Federal disclosures filed Friday and Saturday show that an upstart political action group whose donors have not yet been disclosed is supporting Portland Democrat Sushila Jayapal, who is running for Oregon’s 3rd Congressional District. He has reportedly spent more than $1 million opposing him.
In fliers and TV ads, voters calling for “responsive government” took aim at Jayapal’s record as a Multnomah County commissioner. The group accused Jayapal of multiple missteps in addressing homelessness, including Multnomah County’s failure to spend tens of millions of dollars earmarked for homelessness.
“Homelessness is a serious problem,” says one flyer mailed to voters in the Portland area. “Why didn’t Commissioner Sushila Jayapal seriously try to solve the problem?”
Jayapal wrote on social media on Friday: Not a single penny of outside funding will threaten us or detract from our goal of winning this primary. ”
Voters for Responsive Government was formed as a political action committee in early April but is not yet required to reveal its donors, so it can determine who is funding attack ads. It has become difficult. The next Federal Election Commission disclosure deadline for spending by the Federal Election Commission and other groups supporting or opposing federal candidates is May 20, the day before Oregon votes are counted. .
Last week, Jayapal and his competitors in the 3rd Congressional District took the unusual step of holding a joint press conference denouncing massive outside spending in the campaign. Their mutual competitor, physician and state representative Maxine Dexter, benefited from $1.7 million in independent spending support from the 314 Action Fund, a group that supports liberal physicians and scientists running for office. is recieving. Jayapal and candidate Eddie Morales called on Dexter to reveal now who the 314 Action Fund is funding Dexter’s support efforts, rather than waiting until May 20th.
“At a time when MAGA Republican mega-donors are interfering with Democratic primaries across the country, especially against qualified candidates of color, voters have a right to know who is buying this seat.” said in a joint statement.
All 314 Action Fund mailers, advertisements, and text are limited to positive messages about Dexter.
Mr Dexter defends the support from the 314 Action Fund. The organization, founded in 2016, is disclosing all donors as required until March 31 of this year.
Mr Dexter took to social media on Friday to slam the “Voters for Responsive Government” campaign. She wrote that “newly formed dark money groups” are an example of a broken campaign finance system that she hopes to fix if elected to Congress. Voters for Responsive Government is not actually an underground finance group. It is a federally registered super PAC and must disclose its donors by a Federal Election Commission deadline.
“After a group recently attacked my opponent, I want to be clear: I don’t think there’s any room for negativity in this campaign,” Dexter said on Twitter, formerly known as Twitter. I mentioned this in a post to X. “I in no way condone or support these negative advertisements and remain committed to positive conversations.”
314 Action Fund and Voters for Responsive Government are spending significantly more on campaigns than each candidate reported raising through March 31st. Jayapal had raised $611,000, more than any other candidate in the race.
The only other outside spending reported for the campaign is $59,000 in Morales support from the National Association of Officials.
Jayapal said at a news conference Thursday that she had “known for some time” that groups like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee were planning to join the race against her. The nonprofit news organization The Intercept reported late last week that an unnamed Congressional official said donors aligned with AIPAC were supporting 314 efforts to support Dexter against Jayapal.
In a social media post this weekend, Sen. Jeff Merkley expressed concern about negative advertising by voters against the “responsive government,” given that the government has not yet disclosed its donors.
“I strongly condemn the ongoing dark money campaign to defame Sushila Jayapal in OR CD3, and any other dark money campaign underway or planned,” he wrote. “They are despicable and damaging to our democracy.”
Sami Edge covers higher education and politics for The Oregonian. She can be reached at the following address: sedge@oregonian.com or (503) 260-3430.
