It’s no wonder that some of the leading U.S. Senate candidates and their leading supporters in the May 14 Democratic primary are attacking each other. But now an abortion rights group in Maryland is attacking one of the nation’s most prominent abortion rights groups over the Senate race.
Emily’s List, a powerful national organization that supports Democratic women who support abortion rights, announced that Prince George’s County Executive Angela will be replacing retiring U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D) very early in the campaign.・Supported Mr. Alsobrooks (Democratic Party). That wasn’t surprising.
But surprisingly, it was only in the past week that Women Vote!, a political action committee affiliated with this group, took to the airwaves to stop and tackle Alsobrooks.
PAC spending in Maryland now exceeds $2.5 million. The ad included an attack criticizing her main rival, Rep. David Trone, the No. 6 Democrat, for providing campaign contributions to conservative Republicans who oppose abortion rights. Alsobrooks himself took advantage of this.
“David Tron and his company donated $500,000 to extremist and MAGA Republicans to win the election,” a female narrator says in the ad. “David Trone cares more about his bottom line than our rights.”
Trone has said throughout the campaign that these donations were made to benefit his company, Total Wine & More, which operates across the United States, including many red states.
The ad campaign drew a rebuke from a group called Maryland Reproductive Justice. The group issued a statement this week questioning why Emily’s List would spend valuable resources attacking Tron, a candidate who has received high praise from abortion rights groups such as NARAL and Planned Parenthood. Helped arrange funding for a new abortion clinic in Western Maryland. In a statement, RJM suggested that attacks on Tron could benefit former Gov. Larry Hogan, a likely Republican Senate candidate.
“Not only does this mislead voters, it could jeopardize the integrity of the next election and allow candidates who are anti-women’s rights, like Mitch McConnell’s handpicked candidate Larry Hogan, to be in power.” “This could pave the way for the acquisition of said the organization.
RJM said it had no problem with Emily List’s decision to support Allsbrooks, saying, “At the end of the day, they support pro-choice women.” However, RJM tasked Emily’s List with accepting $500,000 from a “major Republican donor” without disclosing their name.
This is apparently a reference to New York financier Robert Granieri, who was a big donor to the Republican Party during the 2022 campaign, but this time distributed the funds more evenly, according to campaign finance websites. . Granieri donated $500,000 to Women Vote! this election cycle. United Democracy Project, a super PAC affiliated with the powerful pro-Israel group AIPAC, donated $200,000 to Women Vote! This year, even though it has helped both Republicans and Democrats this election cycle.
Earlier this year, a Slate article highlighted some of Emily’s List’s newest donors and questioned the abortion rights group’s tactics. “EMILY’s List has infiltrated the campaign in ways that threaten to help Republicans, not Democrats,” the article said. “We partner with Republican-funded organizations to support candidates with a conservative voting history or who are at risk of tilting their races toward conservatives.”
Meanwhile, leaders of Emily’s List and other advocacy groups supporting Allsbrooks are meeting with candidates and their supporters Saturday morning at Alsobrooks’ Silver Spring campaign office.
Also scheduled to appear alongside Allsbrooks is Jessica Mackler, president of EMILY’s List. Glinda C. Carr, president and CEO of Higher Heights PAC, which supports Black women running for public office; Rashad Thomas, legislative director for End Citizens United/Let America Vote, a campaign finance reform group that supported Allsbrooks. and Yvonne Gutierrez, chief strategy officer of the Reproductive Freedom for All group.
FEC cites four late-stage applicants in Maryland
The Federal Election Commission on Friday accused four Maryland state legislators of failing to submit a 12-day primary report, which was required on May 2, ahead of next Tuesday’s primary. The committee was cited.
As of Friday, we have not received the required disclosure reports from:
- Building contractor Chris Bruneau challenges U.S. Rep. Andy Harris in the 1st District Republican primary.
- McKayla Wilkes (D), third time running for Congress in the 5th District.
- Destiny Drake West, Democratic candidate for District 6
- Businesswoman Abigail Diehl is one of 22 Democrats running in the 3rd District primary.
The FEC announced that it notified the commissions involved in these primaries of the potential filing requirements on April 12. Committees that did not submit their reports by the deadline were notified on May 3, the day after the deadline, that their reports had not been submitted. The letter stated that if there was no response within four business days, the names would be made public.
The FEC said Friday that further actions against non-filers or late filers will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
