15 Political Digital Advertisers You Haven’t Heard of But Should Know
On the eve of the Facebook ad freeze, we wanted to deep dive into which organizations are spending online in key states. If you’re only looking at the top 5–10 political digital ad spenders, you’ll end up with a largely overlapping list of Presidential campaigns, their Super PACs, and a few U.S. Senate candidates. But that does not tell the full story of what’s going on in a state. Using our internal tracking tool and Facebook’s transparency data, we looked at some of the top spenders in key battleground states, excluding Presidential and federal candidates, as well as well known orgs like Priorities USA and The Lincoln Project. From Betsy Devos to anti-immigration, here’s what we found:
PENNSYLVANIA
- Defending Democracy Together is a group of Anti-Trump conservatives founded in 2019 and run by Bill Kristol, founder of the Weekly Standard. Organized as a 501c4 nonprofit, it is not required to disclose its donors, but was the “top spending dark money group of the 2020 election” according to OpenSecrets. Over the past 4 weeks they have spent about $1.7M on Facebook: 42% in Pennsylvania.
- Last 4 Weeks Facebook Spend (PA): $717k
- Last 4 Weeks Facebook Spend (Nat’l): $1.7M
- Top 5 Active States: PA, FL, NC, WI, AZ
- Backed By: Undisclosed
2. The Keystone looks like a local news outlet on the surface, but according to the Washington Post, it is more “hyperlocal partisan propaganda” funded by Democratic group ACRONYM via Courier Newsroom, which, according to OpenSecrets, is “a network of websites emulating progressive local news outlets,” most of which have received failing grades from NewsGuard. The Keystone has spent more than half a million dollars on Facebook over the last four weeks on ads “supporting” various PA State House candidates. Most ads link to the same article, which focuses on the Republicans’ agenda of re-opening businesses amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Last 4 Weeks Facebook Spend (PA): $520k
- Active States: PA — but they have similar outlets in MI, NC, AZ, WI, GA
- Backed By: ACRONYM and its donors
3. Commonwealth Leaders Fund is a political action committee (PAC) backed by right-winged donors, including US Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. The organization has spent $103k on Facebook over the last 4 weeks in Pennsylvania. And though that might not sound like a lot, it is mostly going toward ads against state and local PA Democratic candidates, whose digital budgets are a fraction of this size. They have also been funding misleading mailers and TV ads in the state since June.
- Last 4 Weeks Facebook Spend (PA): $103K
- Active States: PA
- Backed By: Betsy DeVos and others
FLORIDA
4. BlackPAC is a super PAC built to educate, register and mobilize Black voters. In line with their mission, they advertise information on how to vote-by-mail along with reminders to return those ballots. About ⅔ of BlackPAC’s last 4 weeks of Facebook spend is in Florida ($200k). BlackPAC has raised almost $11.5M this cycle, spending the majority of its budget on independent expenditures for Biden. According to OpenSecrets, its largest source of funding is the Sixteen Thirty Fund, led by Amy Kurtz.
- Last 4 Weeks Facebook Spend (FL): $200k
- Last 4 Weeks Facebook Spend (Nat’l): $315k
- Top 5 Active States: FL, NC, MI, VA, GA
- Backed By: Sixteen Thirty Fund and others
5. Community Change Voters is a top rising spender in Florida over the last four weeks, spending $120k through Florida Immigrant Change Coalition (FLIC Votes) in support of local Florida candidates for school board, mayor, county commissioner and the like. Their key donor is Liz Simons of the Heising-Simons Foundation. Last 4 Weeks Facebook Spend (FL): $120k
- Last 4 Weeks Facebook Spend (Nat’l): $146k
- Active States: FL, GA, AZ, NY
- Backed By: Liz Simons and others
6. CatholicVote is a conservative advocacy organization focused on supporting candidates who will be faithful stewards of Catholic teachings and mobilizing voters to elect those candidates. Over the past 4 weeks, they’ve spent $42k in Florida advertising against Biden-Harris’ stance on abortion, as well as mostly false claims that Biden is opposed to school choice. CatholicVote is run under the umbrella of the Fidelis Center, a Catholic non-profit group.
- Last 4 Weeks Facebook Spend (FL): $42k
- Last 4 Weeks Facebook Spend (Nat’l): $129k
- Active States: FL, PA, MI, WI, AZ
- Backed By: Fidelis Center for Law and Justice
TEXAS
7. Voto Latino is an organization dedicated to registering LatinX voters and encouraging civic participation. The org has spent $490k on Facebook over the last 4 weeks in Texas, accounting for about 25% of its national spend. Similar to BlackPAC, Voto Latino’s ads are aimed to increase voter turnout by promoting voter registration and early voting information.
- Last 4 Weeks Facebook Spend (TX): $490k
- Last 4 Weeks Facebook Spend (Nat’l): $2M
- Top 5 Active States: FL, TX, AZ, NC, KS
- Backed By: Mike Bloomberg’s $500k investment was publicly announced, but Voto Latino is not required to disclose its donors
8. Energy Citizens is a front group backed by the American Petroleum Institute (API), the main lobbying arm of the oil industry. Over the last 4 weeks, they’ve spent about $150k in TX fighting climate change legislation.
- Last 4 Weeks Facebook Spend (TX): $150k
- Last 4 Weeks Facebook Spend (Nat’l): $650k
- Top 5 Active States: TX, GA, MI, PA, FL
- Backed By: American Petroleum Institute
9. PragerU or Prager University, is an organization that creates videos on political, economic and philosophical topics from a conservative perspective. Though not affiliated with an accredited university, PragerU advertises educational content aimed to instill conservative beliefs in the next generation of leaders. In fact, Mark Oppenheimer of Mother Jones has called PragerU the “Right-Wing YouTube Empire That’s Quietly Turning Millennials Into Conservatives”. PragerU has almost 3m followers on YouTube, over half a million on Twitter, almost 4.5m on Facebook, and 1.3m on Instagram.
- Last 4 Weeks Facebook Spend (TX): $71k
- Last 4 Weeks Facebook Spend (Nat’l): $410k
- Top 5 Active States: TX, CA, FL, NY, OH
- Backed By: Fracking billionaires Dan and Farris Wilks; Lynde & Harry Bradley Foundation
MICHIGAN
10. NumbersUSA is an anti-immigration organization that has spent $186k on Facebook in Michigan over the last four weeks advocating for Congress to “pause immigration to help Americans get back to work”. According to Conservative Transparency and SourceWatch, several conservative family foundations have backed NumbersUSA since its inception in 1997, including the Scaife family through Scaife Family Foundation, the Sarah Scaife Foundation, and the Koch Family, through an affiliated donor-advised fund called DonorsTrust.
- Last 4 Weeks Facebook Spend (MI): $186k
- Last 4 Weeks Facebook Spend (Nat’l): $1.1M
- Top 5 Active States: MI, AZ, GA, TX, CO
- Backed By: Scaife Family, Koch Family
11. The Presidential Coalition is a group founded in 2005 and managed by David Bossie, Founder of Citizens United and Trump’s former assistant campaign manager. The organization was once scolded by Trump and Bossie temporarily exiled from the orbit. Over the past 4 weeks, they spent $175k in Michigan and $660K nationally on ads in support of Amy Coney Barrett and down ballot Republican candidates, hoping to create the conservative farm team for the next generation.
- Last 4 Weeks Facebook Spend (MI): $175k
- Last 4 Weeks Facebook Spend (Nat’l): $650k
- Top 5 Active States: MI, MN, AZ, WI, NV
- Backed By: Unclear
12. American Principles Project PAC is a conservative 501c4 think tank that campaigns against same-sex marriage, access to abortion, and transgender rights. During the past 4 weeks, they have spent $101k in MI on these issues. Amongst its large donors is Thomas D. Klingenstein, famed author and journalist in the American Mind, who has published numerous articles on why Trump is right for America. They are also spending similar amounts in Wisconsin.
- Last 4 Weeks Facebook Spend (MI): $101k
- Last 4 Weeks Facebook Spend (Nat’l): $202k
- Active States: MI, WI, TX, CA, IL
- Backed By: Thomas D. Klingenstein
MINNESOTA
13. Alliance for a Better Minnesota (ABM) is a Super PAC that promotes progressive ideals and “holds conservatives accountable.” In the last four weeks, ABM has spent $260k on promoting Minnesota State Senate candidates. Labor unions and the family of former Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton fund this organization. (Source)
- Last 4 Weeks Facebook Spend (MN): $260k
- Active States: MN
- Backed By: Former Governor Mark Dayton and unions
14. America First Policies is an advocacy organization created to promote Trump’s America First policy agenda. In 2018, this “dark money” group’s first tax return revealed millions in previously undisclosed spending according to OpenSecrets. They have spent over $700k on Facebook over the last 30 days, with almost 20% of spend focused on Minnesota. Recent ads are focused on voter registration and voting.
- Last 4 Weeks Facebook Spend (MN): $116k
- Last 4 Weeks Facebook Spend (Nat’l): $711k
- Top 5 Active States: AZ, MN, WI, NC, FL
- Backed By: Trump machine
15. Climate Vote Minnesota is an organization focused on informing voters of the decisions legislators have made related to climate policy. Its largest contributor is the League of Conservation Voters, a national advocacy organization for people and the planet. Climate Vote MN has spent $100k on Facebook over the last four weeks promoting Minnesota State Senate candidates who want to tackle climate change.
- Last 4 Weeks Facebook Spend (MN): $100k
- Active States: MN
- Backed by: League of Conservation Voters
NORTH CAROLINA & WISCONSIN
Of course North Carolina and Wisconsin are critical states on many fronts, but most of the lesser known, big spenders there were either already mentioned (and noted in “active states”) or are backed by well-known organizations such as Priorities USA and The Republican National Committee.
One thing is for certain, no matter the issue, big money is alive, well and has created a tangled web in politics.
