Big money is finally being directed to saving democracy in the states
The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law has been tracking election deniers on next week’s ballot, from the top of the ticket down, and is seeing a disturbing trend: As the Democrats running in these races increase their lead in fundraising, the election deniers are increasing their false election claims and warnings on social media.
Daily Kos isn’t the only group to realize just how critical funding Secretary of State races is, though we were ahead of the curve. These races have gained in visibility since the 2020 election and Jan. 6, and since election denial become such a big part of Republican campaign orthodoxy. That was certainly a wake up call for funders on the left, and not just those of use hitting ActBlue every few weeks. Brennan Center finds that in the four races for secretary of state where the Republican is an election denier, the Democrat has outraged them three to one. Beyond the races for that position, the election deniers “losing the money race in most battleground gubernatorial elections.”
“Outside groups like super PACs are spending unprecedented amounts totaling several million dollars for secretary of state races in each of the key states,” Brennan finds. “Virtually all this independent spending is supporting opponents of election denial.” So that’s good.
There’s always a “but,” though.