PAC Tracker 8/31
These tallies will cover all independent expenditures filed with the FEC to date in races I’m watching by the end of the day yesterday, August 30, and report new independent expenditures filed with the FEC since the last PAC Tracker’s cutoff, August 23. Future editions will update the tallies and report new expenses only. As a reminder, this will be included in all subscription tiers. (I am going to gradually start paywalling things in September, starting with primary previews and the PAC Tracker, so subscribe now if you want to continue getting those in your inbox.)
CA-07 (only counting expenditures since the June 2 primary)
81-year-old Rep. Doris Matsui faces a stiff challenge from fellow Democrat Mai Vang, a Sacramento City Councilor running to Matsui’s left with the backing of Justice Democrats and an added message of generational change.
Total IEs: $200,000
Pro-Matsui: $200,000
CA-11 (only counting expenditures since the June 2 primary)
Left-NIMBY San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan and pro-tech right-YIMBY state Sen. Scott Wiener have produced the most cursed Democrat-on-Democrat election of the cycle; never change, San Francisco.
Total IEs: $299,212.59 | +$163,510.69
Pro-Wiener: $299,212.59 | +$163,510.69
- $141,510.69 in mailers and $2,200 in website expenses supporting Scott Wiener from Abundant Future (plus $86,650 in previously untracked polling and newspaper ads from early August)
- $20,000 in mailers supporting Scott Wiener from the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee
MA-Sen
Total IEs: $7,734,916.10
Anti-Markey: $3,329,004.93 | +$1,047,200
Pro-Markey: $17,917
Anti-Moulton: $2,222,460.33 | +$300,000
Pro-Moulton: $2,165,533.84 | +$716,855.05
Sen. Ed Markey should have retired this year, but he didn’t, and the choice is now between Markey and the one Massachusetts politician bold enough to challenge him: transphobic loser Seth Moulton, the congressman for Boston’s northern suburbs and exurbs.
- $1,047,200 in digital ads opposing Ed Markey from Advance Progress
- $300,000 in TV ads opposing Seth Moulton from Commonwealth Together PAC
- $602,800 in digital ads and $114,055.05 in mailers supporting Seth Moulton from Advance Progress
MA-01
Longtime Rep. Richard Neal faces a scrappy challenge from leftist high school history teacher Jeromie Whalen, who has lately spooked the incumbent into heavy last-minute advertising.
Total IEs: $24,612
Pro-Whalen: $24,612
MA-04
Centrist Rep. Jake Auchincloss, a favorite of the tech industry, faces a thinly-resourced challenge from researcher Jason Poulos.
Total IEs: $189,527.60 | +$47,381.90
Pro-Auchincloss: $189,527.60 | +$47,381.90
- $47,381.90 in mailers supporting Jake Auchincloss from Protect Progress (cryptocurrency industry PAC)
MA-06
The race to succeed Moulton is an absolute clown car, with state Rep. Tram Nguyen and former MA-03 candidate Dan Koh seeming to lead the pack as self-funder John Beccia and a trio of underfunded progressives fight to break through.
Total IEs: $2,439,521.15 | +$558,044.52
Pro-Koh: $1,760,631.33 | +$214,317.92
Pro-Nguyen: $678,889.82 | +$343,726.60
- $89,196.77 in TV ads and $9,910.75 in placement fees supporting Dan Koh from Think Big (AI industry PAC)
- $112,210.40 in mailers and $3,000 in production costs supporting Dan Koh from New Leadership PAC
- $43,726.60 in mailers supporting Tram Nguyen from Save America Fund
- $300,000 in digital ads supporting Tram Nguyen from Pro-Choice Majority Action
MA-08
Rep. Stephen Lynch has long been an obvious primary target; he was socially conservative long after that stopped being unremarkable for a House Democrat, and he’s just generally up there in years. Attorney Patrick Roath has the backing of some progressive groups and labor unions as well as a lot of local elected officials, as he hopes to make this the year Lynch goes down.
Total IEs: $508,521.96 | +$85,743.59
Anti-Lynch: $213,720.83 |
Pro-Roath: $294,801.13 | +$85,743.59
- $56,759.46 in mailers supporting Patrick Roath from Leaders We Deserve
- $3,617 in digital ads and $755.13 in phone calls supporting Patrick Roath from Indivisible Action
- $24,612 in phonebanking expenses supporting Patrick Roath from SF Solidarity PAC (the campaign committee of former CA-11 candidate Saikat Chakrabarti, converted into a personal super PAC)
NH-01
The top two candidates for outgoing Rep. Chris Pappas’s seat, Stefany Shaheen and Maura Sullivan, are as uninspiring as he is. Shaheen is the daughter of retiring Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, and Sullivan is a repeat NH-01 candidate who was a centrist back when she first ran in 2018 and remains a centrist now. There are other progressives running campaigns with varying degrees of resources; we’ll see if any break through.
Total IEs: $4,787,906.71 | +$2,000,862.78
Pro-Shaheen: $1,605,157.11 | +$299,605.95
Anti-Sullivan: $227,926.22 | +$227,926.22
Pro-Sullivan: $2,905,823.38 | +$1,434,330.61
Pro-Beriont: $49,000 | +$39,000
- $55,766.09 in mailers supporting Stefany Shaheen from Article One PAC
- $149,490.98 in TV ads and $94,348.88 in mailers supporting Stefany Shaheen from The No Kings PAC
- $170,000 in digital ads opposing Maura Sullivan from New Leadership PAC
- $57,926.22 in mailers opposing Maura Sullivan from VPP
- $650,000 in TV ads, $150,000 in digital ads, and $9,741.77 in production costs supporting Maura Sullivan from VoteVets
- $100,000 in digital ads, $30,796.09 in mailers, $484,999 in TV ads and $8,793.75 in production costs supporting Maura Sullivan from the Servant-Leader Fund
- $39,000 in digital ads supporting Carleigh Beriont from Live Free PAC