IN MARCH, House
Democrats’ campaign arm formalized a policy cutting
off firms working with candidates running primary challenges against incumbent
Democrats. But the rule doesn’t appear to apply to consultants who get millions
of dollars from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee while working
for political action committees that support and elect Republicans.
One of the biggest vendors
working with the political action committee With Honor, Trilogy Interactive,
has taken at least $2 million from the DCCC since the 2016 election cycle,
according to FEC filings. With Honor PAC — which has an affiliated bipartisan
caucus, the For
Country caucus, that includes at least 10 Democratic members — is dedicated
to electing veterans to Congress.
As The Intercept reported
in July, the PAC actively targeted former Rep. Katie Hill, D-Calif.,
spending money to back Republican Mike Garcia, an Iraq War veteran, in the
upcoming election. Last cycle, With Honor backed Republican Reps. Mike Waltz,
Brian Mast, and Greg Steube of Florida, Dan Crenshaw and Van Taylor of Texas,
Steve Watkins of Kansas, Don Bacon of Nebraska, and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.
They also spent against Republicans Jim Hagedorn of Minnesota and Andy
Barr of Kentucky.
Trilogy Interactive is a
digital firm that works with Democratic political campaigns and other PACs.
This year, it has received at least $42,000 from With Honor and at least
$428,100 from the DCCC.
The DCCC has faced intense
scrutiny for the blacklist policy, which critics say is another example of the
committee exploiting its position to keep centrist Democrats in power
while discouraging
women and people of color to run for office. For example, Marie Newman
lost to Rep. Dan Lipinski last year, after the committee backed the
anti-abortion Democrat over his progressive challenger. She’s running against
the eight-term incumbent a second time in 2020. As of October, several
consultants had dropped her campaign because of the DCCC rule change, though a
number of House Democrats were privately supporting her.
In 2018, the DCCC intervened
in a competitive New Jersey primary to help Jeff Van Drew, one of the most
conservative Democrats in the state, win the party’s nomination. Democrats
expected to flip the House seat, but overlooked progressives like retired
teacher Tanzie Youngblood and ex-Cory Booker staffer Will Cunningham in favor
of Van Drew — who enjoyed a 100
percent rating from the National Rifle Association and supported restrictions on
abortion.
The New Jersey congressman, a
vocal opponent of impeaching Trump, is expected to switch over to the
Republican Party later this week. Seven staff members resigned in
light of his decision, leaving only his chief of staff in his Washington
office, and DCCC Chair Cheri Bustos said the
committee would hire any staffer who quit Van Drew’s office.
On Monday, the Democratic
Senatorial Campaign Committee announced its endorsement of M.J. Hegar in the
competitive primary for the seat currently held by Republican Sen. John Cornyn.
Hegar hasn’t been a committed Democrat until recently and even voted in the
2016 Republican primary, The Intercept reported in
August.
Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez’s
campaign called the DSCC endorsement “tone-deaf” to the Texas
electorate; she’s running as a progressive in
the crowded Democratic primary race for the Senate seat. “They have decided to
ignore several more qualified and experienced candidates of color, who have
done the work to transform the politics of our state, in favor of a former
Republican,” Tzintzún Ramirez’s campaign manager, David Sanchez, said in a
statement.
“It is disappointing that the
national Democratic establishment is so afraid of progressive ideas that it
will not even give Texas voters a chance to hear them. At a time when the
energy is in the progressive wing of the party, they have decided that they
know better.”
DCCC and With Honor PAC did
not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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