DeSantis Coming to Wisconsin as Trump Pounds the GOP’s No. 2 Presidential Contender

As he moves closer to a presidential campaign announcement, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has scheduled a trip to the Badger State next month. 

DeSantis, who is expected to officially launch his run for the White House after the Florida legislative session ends in early May, will speak at the Republican Party of Marathon County Lincoln Day Dinner on May 6.

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Marjorie Taylor Greene Starts PAC to Encourage Government to Stop Giving Money to Ukraine

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., announced Monday the creation of her “Save America, Stop Socialism” PAC to encourage the government to stop giving money to Ukraine. 

“I’m fed up with our American government and Biden supporting the war in Ukraine and doing absolutely NOTHING to protect America’s border,” Greene wrote on Twitter. “Help me fund a national ad campaign to STOP WWIII!”

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Moderate GOP PAC Spent Only $700,000 of $1.8 Million Raised Helping Republican Candidates

The Republican Legislative Victory Fund (RLVF), a PAC supporting moderate Republicans, posted its end-of-year campaign finance report recently, and of $1.8 million raised, only about $700,000 was spent on independent expenditures (IEs) to support candidates. Almost all of that was spent during the last 15 days of the general election, which Arizona Free Enterprise Club President Scot Mussi told The Arizona Sun Times was well after many of the strongest attacks came against Republican candidates in September.

“I am hearing Camelback Strategies and others associated with the 2022 Victory Fund are trying to take credit for ‘saving’ the majorities at the legislature,” Mussi said. “If anything, their actions contributed to the slim majorities. They did nothing to help Michelle Pena in LD 23, which if she didn’t win we wouldn’t even have a majority.”

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No Financial Data Reported for Maricopa County Recorder Richer’s PAC Since October 22, Two Weeks Prior to Election

While Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer is coming under increased scrutiny for his founding and operation of a political action committee (PAC), the next required opportunity for the public’s visibility on his PAC’s activity is mid-January nearly two months after he sought to influence the November 8 general election.

According to the Arizona Secretary of State website regarding campaign finance reporting dates, filings for the post-general election period of October 23 to December 31, 2022, are not due until the earliest date of January 1 and not later than January 17, 2023.

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New Super PAC-Funded Ads Arrive to Revive Blake Masters’ Campaign Against Senator Mark Kelly

As Blake Masters pulls to within striking distance of incumbent U.S. Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ), according to new polling by Trafalgar Group, the Frontiers of Freedom Action (FFA) Super PAC has jumped in to the Arizona media market to buy ads focused on opponent Kelly’s voting record.

The Arizona Sun Times asked Frontiers of Freedom President George Landrith, who also heads the FFA, why he thought the race was still winnable after Masters lost significant financial support. Landrith pointed to the gubernatorial race in New Jersey last year, where the Republican candidate, Jack Ciattarelli, was also a little-known newcomer like Masters, and written off by some in the Republican Party. Ciattarelli surprised everyone, losing by only 3.1 points in a very blue state.

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Stacey Abrams’ PAC Pulls in $104 Million in First Two Years, among Top Political Fundraising Groups

Stacey Abrams

The political action committee for former Georgia state lawmaker and gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams has raised over $100 million in the first two years of its existence, making it one of the top fundraising PACs in the country.

The Fair Fight PAC was created by Abrams after she failed to win the 2018 Georgia governor’s race. She has since devoted much of her efforts toward fundraising and get-out-the voter efforts for fellow Democrats running for office.

Of the $104 million so far raised, $90 million was part of the 2020 election cycle, $8 million was for this year’s special Senate elections in Georgia, in which Democrats took both GOP-held seats, and the other $6 million has been raised since February, according to The Hill newspaper.

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Official Minnesota Government Twitter Account Parrots Left-Wing Super PAC Word-for-Word

Gov. Tim Walz

An official Minnesota government account tweeted word-for-word the same message as a left-wing super PAC with a less-than-spotless record.

“Thanks to [Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz], our economy is coming back stronger than ever,” the Minnesota Department of Corrections said via Twitter recently. This post came about 90 minutes after A Better Minnesota made the same exact post.

A Better Minnesota is a left-wing super PAC that moved about $4.5 million in the state during the last election cycle, per Open Secrets. It has also been accused of running misleading attack ads according to Influence Watch. The organization’s stated goal is “holding conservatives accountable.”

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Pompeo to Launch PAC Supporting Republicans in 2022

Mike Pompeo

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is launching a super PAC to help elect conservatives in the 2022 midterms, Politico reported Tuesday.

The Champion American Values PAC (CAVPAC) will allow him to travel the country and raise unlimited funds for members of the GOP running campaigns in local, state, and federal elections.

“We’re going to go out, and we’ve started this already, but we’re going to go out and expand to a greater degree, helping candidates all across the country,” Pompeo told Politico in a phone interview.

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Former U.S. Senate Candidate Launches PAC to Help Elect Republicans in 2022

A Republican former U.S. Senate candidate from Michigan is launching a Political Action Committee (PAC) with the goal of helping other GOP candidates get elected in 2022.

John James is a West Point graduate, Iraq War veteran and businessman who ran twice for U.S. Senate in Michigan. In 2020, he was barely edged out by incumbent Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) by a 49.6 percent to 48.5 percent margin. 

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Inside the Dark Money Dem Group Using an Umbrella Network to Flay Trump Over His Virus Response

by Chris White   Two left-leaning large super pac groups that kickstarted a digital ad campaign targeting President Donald Trump’s coronavirus response have ties to a wealthy, shadowy dark money network. American Bridge 21st Century and Pacronym are reportedly cutting ads thrashing Trump’s handling of the virus and becoming two of the first super pacs to go after the president on the health crisis. Both groups also have ties to two large nonprofit groups — New Venture Fund and Sixteen Thirty Fund — connected to a massive left-leaning consulting group. NVF gave one of Pacronym’s nonprofit — ACRONYM — $250,000 while providing American Bridge $40,000 in 2018, according to NVF’s 2018 IRS documents. IRS records also indicate American Bridge pulled in $200,000 in 2018 from nonprofit Sixteen Thirty Fund, which reportedly spent $141 million on various left-leaning causes during the midterm election year. Sixteen Thirty Fund and nonprofit NVF are tied into the same sprawling network, according to an analysis by the Daily Caller News Foundation. Arabella Advisors, a philanthropic consulting company based in Washington, D.C., manages four nonprofits, including the NVF, Sixteen Thirty Fund, Hopewell Fund and the Windward Fund. Sixteen Thirty Fund has not responded to the DCNF’s request for comment, while NVF…

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Club for Growth PAC Airs Haslam’s ‘Dirty Laundry’ in Video, Website

Club for Growth Action, a conservative Super PAC, has a message for former Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam: You’re not welcome in the 2020 Senate race. Club for Growth Action last week released a 60-second digital ad, according to a press release here. The video is available to watch here. The PAC’s video shows what it alleges is a history of Haslam “profiting from his business interest, which had been infected with fraud, racist rants, and practices designed to exploit Hispanic and other customers,” according to the press release. The transcript of the video reads: Racist photos. Resignation refusals. Criminal allegations of rape and assault. Reprehensible slurs vile beyond belief. Liberal Democrats are up to their knees in dirty laundry. And liberal RINO Bill Haslam…he’s dirty, too. Prosecutors say the Haslam family business was infected with fraud. Over a dozen company executives and employees convicted for a conspiracy to defraud mom and pop truckers. Haslam got filthy rich as company co-owner, lining his pockets on the backs of working people. His campaigns for Governor fueled with fat contributions from the executive who masterminded the scheme, Haslam’s golfing buddy Mark Hazelwood. The same man caught on tape spewing racist, drunken rants…

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The Tennessee Star Report: Phil Kerpen Provides Details on the Knoxville Location That Served as Campaign Hub for AOC and Justice Democrats

On Wednesday’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Gill spoke with Kerpen who is an American free-market policy analyst and political organizer. He is the president of American Commitment, a conservative 501c organization which he founded in 2012. The Tennessee Star Report spoke to Kerpen about his recent Twitter feed wherein a Knoxville location on Gay Street was the hub for the newly elected freshman congresswoman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, which allegedly funneled funds through the location between PAC and campaign accounts through corporations. Gill: Yesterday I was reading through the twitter stream of Phil Kerpen who previously was vice president of American’s for Prosperity is now President of the American free market policy group, American Commitment. It’s a conservative 501 organization that he founded in two thousand and twelve. He and I actually ran into each other repeatedly at Grover Norquist’s regular weekly meetings and through American’s for Prosperity. So anyway I’m reading through Phil’s Twitter and there’s a picture of a building in Knoxville, Tennessee and I’m going, “Wait a minute, I’m from Knoxville, I know that building.”…

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New Ad Shows President Trump Saying Bredesen Opposes Border Wall, Wants to Raise Taxes, Supports Schumer and Pelosi

The Senate Leadership Fund PAC on Saturday launched a new advertising campaign highlighting President Donald Trump’s opposition to Phil Bredesen and his support of U.S. Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07) in the U.S. Senate race. The $1.8 million buy will run statewide on a combination of broadcast and cable television, radio and digital. The video is available to watch here. The ad starts out with the president saying, “A vote for Bredesen is a vote for Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi. Phil Bredesen wants to raise your taxes. He opposes the border wall totally. Bredesen will not defend your Second Amendment rights.” The video continues with the president supporting Blackburn: “A vote for Marsha is really a vote for me and everything that we stand for. It’s a vote for Make America Great Again.” Senate Leadership Fund Spokesman Chris Pack said, “Phil Bredesen’s liberal agenda is completely wrong for Tennessee and that is why President Trump is supporting Marsha Blackburn. Try as he may, Bredesen can’t hide that he’s a vote for higher taxes, weak immigration, and against our Second Amendment rights.” Bredesen has taken hits throughout the campaign for the points the president raised. The National Rifle Association has been critical of…

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JC Bowman Commentary: Time to Separate PACS from Lobbying

dealmakers

Professional Educators of Tennessee will continue to lobby for public education.  However, we will never endorse political parties or candidates as an organization on behalf of our members.  We also do not have a PAC, nor do we plan to ever start one.  It would harm our effectiveness.  We must advance public education without the divisive tribalism of partisan politics, and we will only get involved in education related issues.

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State Employees Association Endorses Harwell, Fitzhugh In Gubernatorial Primaries

The Tennessee State Employees Association’s PAC has endorsed Beth Harwell and Craig Fitzhugh in their parties’ gubernatorial primary races, the Times Free Press reported. Harwell is the state House Speaker. Fitzhugh is the state House Minority Leader. “This was a lengthy endorsement process, including written and in-person interviews,” said Pat Bowman, chair of the Tennessee Employees Action Movement PAC, in a statement. “In the end, I am pleased with the candidates we’ve endorsed.” The PAC tried to interview all major candidates in both parties. They heard back from Harwell, Fitzhugh and Republicans Randy Boyd and Bill Lee, and Democrat Karl Dean. The only candidate who didn’t respond to the questionnaire or agree to an interview was U.S. Rep. Diane Black, a Republican. Lee filled out the questionnaire but was not interviewed. State employees wanted to learn candidates’ views on issues including the outsourcing of government services to for-profit companies and whether candidates would commit to “insourcing” using state workers. Other issues included “failures” of TNReady tests and raises for state workers. Fitzhugh’s and Harwell’s campaigns provided statements expressing their gratitude, The Tennessee Journal’s Humphrey on the Hill reported. Fitzhugh’s campaign said, in part, “It’s a true honor to receive the…

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