{"id":7449,"date":"2026-06-23T16:36:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T16:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/06\/23\/republican-linked-pacs-funding-democratic-us-primaries-why-it-matters\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T16:36:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T16:36:08","slug":"republican-linked-pacs-funding-democratic-us-primaries-why-it-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/06\/23\/republican-linked-pacs-funding-democratic-us-primaries-why-it-matters\/","title":{"rendered":"Republican-linked PACs funding Democratic US primaries: Why it matters"},"content":{"rendered":"<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Political campaign groups linked to the Republican Party in the United States have reportedly been funding Democratic candidates in ongoing primaries in an effort to boost \u201cweak\u201d candidates they believe are likely to be defeated by Republicans ahead of midterm elections in November.<\/p>\n<p>US media outlets have reported claims of this happening in New Jersey, Maine, Texas, Pennsylvania and Nebraska.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 4 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/video\/newsfeed\/2026\/6\/23\/israeli-strike-kills-palestinian-girl-on-her-way-to-sit-exam\">Israeli strike kills Palestinian girl on her way to sit exam<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/features\/2026\/6\/23\/gaza-world-cup-football-offers-escape\">Football offers escape for Gaza, but World Cup spirit dimmed<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/6\/23\/what-israeli-and-lebanese-officials-are-saying-before-washington-talks\">What Israeli and Lebanese officials are saying before Washington talks<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 4 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/6\/23\/israeli-fire-kills-two-in-lebanon-as-hezbollah-slams-truce-violation\">Israeli fire kills two in Lebanon as Hezbollah slams truce \u2018violation\u2019<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>The midterms often serve as a litmus test of a US administration\u2019s popularity and can decide which party controls Congress \u2013 control that will be vital for the success of US President Donald Trump\u2019s policies for his final two years in office.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats are currently a minority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, but are pushing to flip the two chambers in November.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s what we know about the Republican-linked groups, known as political action committees (PACs), that are believed to be funding Democratic Party candidates:<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4692900\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4692900\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/AP26154083275587-1782219005.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C513&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"vote\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4692900\">Rebecca Bennett, Democratic candidate for New Jersey\u2019s 7th Congressional District, holds her daughter Rosie, alongside her husband Alex Hydrean and daughter Millie, at a primary election night watch party after winning the Democratic nomination Tuesday, June 2, 2026, in Bridgewater, New Jersey, the US [Ryan Murphy\/AP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"what-are-pacs\">What are PACs?<\/h2>\n<p>PACs (political action committees) are independent organisations that raise funds in order to lobby for or against a political party or candidate during elections. They can be highly influential in US election campaigns and, to a great extent, can determine who gets presented to voters.<\/p>\n<p>Originally, PACS, which have existed since 1944, were formed around labour unions or other interests. There are caps on the amount of money a traditional PAC is permitted to raise or donate to a single candidate.<\/p>\n<p>However, in 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that special-interest organisations and unions have the same First Amendment free speech rights as individuals and cancelled limits on independent political spending by such groups. This cleared the way for the creation of so-called \u201csuper PACs\u201d, which are able to raise and spend unlimited funds to boost a candidate but are barred from directly funding individuals.<\/p>\n<p>These groups are required to file financial reports with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) disclosing funding sources. But the deadlines are post-election, meaning the electorate can only see information about how a PAC has been operating after voting takes place.<\/p>\n<p>Parties or lobby groups have also been known to create \u201cpop-up\u201d \u2013 of fake \u2013 super PACS to funnel money to a campaign while hiding their identities. Some call this type of funding \u201cdark money\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The highly popular \u2013 and controversial \u2013 American Israel Public Affairs Committee (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/5\/20\/as-aipac-becomes-toxic-it-is-trying-to-conceal-spending-in-us-elections\">AIPAC<\/a>), for example, is linked to the super PAC United Democracy Project and lobbies heavily for military and diplomatic support for Israel.<\/p>\n<p>On Monday, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/6\/23\/nyc-mayor-zohran-mamdani-doubles-down-on-criticism-of-aipac\">accused AIPAC<\/a> of supporting what he called an \u201cunjust\u201d status quo in Gaza through \u201cdark money\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think that it is important\u2026how such death and destruction happens overseas, we also name those who allow it to take place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"are-republican-super-pacs-supporting-democrats\">Are Republican super PACs supporting Democrats?<\/h2>\n<p>New super PAC submissions to the FEC over the weekend indicated that two \u201cpop-up\u201d super PACS were spending heavily on Democratic primaries in several states.<\/p>\n<p>The groups, Real Change PAC and Lead Left, spent more than $4.3m to boost the profiles of often controversial Democrats whom Republicans believe will be relatively easy to defeat in the midterms, according to US media.<\/p>\n<p>Both are linked to the Conservative Americans PAC, a well-known Republican super PAC founded in 2023, and funded by a non-profit called the American Prosperity Alliance. Charities are legally allowed to conceal the identities of their donors, meaning the real funders of the Conservative Americans PAC are unknown.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"how-does-this-sort-of-strategic-funding-affect-candidates-chances\">How does this sort of strategic funding affect candidates\u2019 chances?<\/h2>\n<p>The results have been mixed.<\/p>\n<p>The Lead Left PAC spent more than $750,000 on advertisements in Texas for Maureen Galindo, a sex therapist who has been accused of making anti-Semitic statements while making criticisms of Israel. Galindo, who denies the accusations, lost the Democratic primary to rival Johnny Garcia.<\/p>\n<p>In Maine, however, the Real Change PAC boosted state auditor Matt Dunlap with contributions of about $500,000 to his campaign. He beat his main opponent, Joe Baldacci.<\/p>\n<p>The Lead Left PAC also spent $435,000 campaigning against John Cavanaugh, who eventually lost by a small margin to Denise Powell, an activist, in Nebraska.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats, too, have intentionally boosted a Republican candidate in order to have a better chance in elections.<\/p>\n<p>In 2022, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) successfully boosted Republican John Gibbs\u2019s primary race against incumbent Representative Peter Meijer in Michigan. Democrat candidate Hillary Scholten eventually defeated Gibbs at the midterms.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what-have-both-sides-said-about-this\">What have both sides said about this?<\/h2>\n<p>Conservative Americans PAC spokesperson Samantha Bullock confirmed the group\u2019s strategy, telling Politico it was payback for Democrats \u201cmeddling\u201d in the past.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRepublicans are levelling the playing field after over a decade of Democrats meddling in our primaries,\u201d Bullock said, adding that Republicans \u201cwould be stupid not to take advantage\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the DCCC condemned the move. In a statement, spokesperson Justin Chermol said the Republicans\u2019 tactics had \u201cbackfired\u201d and that the outlook for them was \u201cbleak\u201d.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"how-much-does-money-matter-in-us-elections\">How much does money matter in US elections?<\/h2>\n<p>A great deal.<\/p>\n<p>Since 2010, super PAC interventions have turned US elections into a money game, observers say.<\/p>\n<p>Securing funding from wealthy PACs is the muscle candidates often need to raise the millions of dollars required for crucial advertising campaigns, media blitzes and to pay teams of campaign staff. The amount of funding support a candidate has gathered can also scare away potential challengers.<\/p>\n<p>Millions of dollars are also spent on attacking rivals.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike pre-2010, when donations were capped, donors can now give massive amounts to a campaign without facing backlash or public criticism simply by using \u201cpop-up\u201d PACS or similar shadow groups that hide their identities.<\/p>\n<p>Election candidates unable to secure such support are unlikely to win primaries, and are unlikely to be presented to the ordinary voter at all.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Political campaign groups linked to the Republican Party in the United States have reportedly been funding Democratic candidates in ongoing primaries in an effort to boost \u201cweak\u201d candidates they believe are likely to be defeated by Republicans ahead of midterm elections in November. US media outlets have reported claims of this happening in New Jersey, &#8230; <a title=\"Republican-linked PACs funding Democratic US primaries: Why it matters\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/06\/23\/republican-linked-pacs-funding-democratic-us-primaries-why-it-matters\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Republican-linked PACs funding Democratic US primaries: Why it matters\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7450,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}