Dem
47
GOP
53
Both sides do it, but at the moment, the Republicans are at bat. A mysterious super PAC called Lead Left has been meddling in three Democratic congressional primaries in hopes of getting the weakest candidate nominated. It is registered to the address of a Staples office supply store in Tallahassee and has been funneling money through LLCs with no disclosure of who is behind it. However, its website has links to WinRed and the messaging in its ads closely parallels those in a Nevada group linked to the House Republican leadership. A second super PAC is active in a California race.
One race where the first super PAC is active is in the new TX-35 district, where the DCCC is backing Johnny Garcia, who has worked for the local sheriff and is a moderate. The Republicans are backing Maureen Galindo (D), who raised under $10,000 in Q1, in the upcoming runoff with Garcia. The GOP is sending out bilingual mailers saying she is a progressive Democrat who would dismantle ICE and impeach Donald Trump. Galindo has said the money came from a billionaire Zionist. Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) have both called her openly bigoted. It is not every day that Rosen and Cruz agree on anything. We're not sure they could even agree that today is a Thursday.
Another race the red team is meddling in is PA-07. This is an R+1 district in the Lehigh Valley represented by Rep. Ryan McKenzie (R-PA). There, Lead Left is supporting Lamont McClure, a former Northampton County Executive. It the PAC's ad, it says: "Lamont McClure kicked ICE out of Northhampton. He takes on Trump and wins." McClure raised only $20,000 in Q1. The stronger candidates are Bob Brooks, a firefighters' union leader, and Ryan Crosswell, a former DoJ attorney. The Democrats are not interfering in that battle, but that see McClure as a much weaker candidate.
The third race doesn't seem to make any sense. Here Lead Left has opposed John Cavanaugh in the blue dot. But the Democrats also oppose Cavanaugh—because they want him to stay in the Nebraska legislature to block Nebraska from going to winner-take-all in presidential elections. It seems odd a Republican-aligned super PAC is doing what the Democrats want. Maybe they people behind it don't actually understand what they are doing. In any event, both Lead Left and the Democrats got what they wanted (see above).
The fourth race is CA-22, a district around Bakersfield where Rep. David Valadao (R-CA) is trying to hang on. The official Republican House super PAC is supporting the progressive Randy Villegas against the DCCC favorite, Jasmeet Bains, a moderate, in this conservative district.
Republicans are enjoying themselves. Mike Marinella, a spokesman for the NRCC, said: "Between the DCCC picking favorites, progressives revolting, dark money groups pouring millions into messy intraparty fights, and candidates publicly torching each other and party bosses, Democrat primaries have become a circular firing squad and must-see reality TV all rolled into one." What he conveniently forgot to mention is that the dark money is from Republicans stirring up trouble in Democratic primaries. (V)