Democrats are using and promoting third party candidates, sometimes candidates who appear conservative, to trick voters and defeat Republicans in House races.
The trickery is significant because Republicans hold a narrow House majority with a number of members seeking reelection in competitive House districts.
The trickery includes recruiting third party candidates, promoting the candidates with ad spending, and encouraging outside groups to do the same.
Voter Protection Project, which is aligned with Democrats, is spending money to promote third party candidates to siphon off votes from Republicans or attack Republicans from the right on certain issues such as border security.
Voter Protection Project’s spending is geared towards running against Rep. David Valadao (R-CA), promoting a third party candidate against Republican challenger Joe Teirab in Minnesota, and promoting a third party candidate to Republican challenger Derek Merrin in Ohio.
Another shadowy Democrat-aligned group, Patriots Run, recruited candidates to run against Republicans in Iowa, Nebraska, Montana, Virginia, and Minnesota, according to the Associated Press:
For the past year, the group has recruited Trump supporters to run as independent candidates in key swing districts where they could siphon votes from Republicans in races that will help determine which party controls the House next year, an Associated Press review has found. In addition to two races in Iowa, the group recruited candidates in Nebraska, Montana, Virginia and Minnesota. All six recruits described themselves as retired, disabled — or both.
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The group’s operation provides few clues about its management, financing or motivation. But interviews, text messages, emails, business filings and other documents reviewed by the AP show that a significant sum has been spent — and some of it traces back to Democratic consulting firms.
While dirty tricks are as old as American elections, the efforts this year could have profound consequences in the fight to control Congress, which is expected to be decided by a handful of races. It’s also not an isolated example: allies of Trump have been working across the U.S. to get liberal academic Cornel West on the ballot in hopes he could play spoiler in the presidential election.
All three seats were won by former President Donald Trump in 2020 and it will be difficult for Democrats to win them without siphoning off Trump’s voters from the GOP congressional candidate.
The DCCC previewed the strategy on messaging websites often referred to as “red boxes” — a public and legal way for them to signal outside groups under campaign finance law. The House GOP campaign arm is also asking its allies to get involved in Alaska, where the top four vote-getters advanced from the all-party primary. If no candidate gets more than 50 percent in the general election, the race proceeds to ranked-choice voting.
In Alaska, a super PAC allied with House Democrats has already answered the DCCC request. Another Democratic-aligned group has waded into Montana.
Wendell Husebo is a political reporter with Breitbart News and a former RNC War Room Analyst. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality. Follow Wendell on “X” @WendellHusebø or on Truth Social @WendellHusebo.