Investigating Power
Major right-wing funders bankroll the GOP gerrymandering guru responsible for engineering new Texas maps to lock up MAGA control of the U.S. House of Representatives, an examination of tax filings by the Center for Media and Democracy shows.
Housed in the offices of the Conservative Partnership Institute, the Foundation for Accountability Integrity & Research in Elections Fund (FAIR Elections Fund), brought in $3.9 million between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024, and disclosed $2.1 million in expenses, more than three-quarters of which was disbursed in grants to other organizations.
The more than $100 million spent on this spring’s Supreme Court election in Wisconsin set a new national record for spending on a state judicial race. The figure almost doubles the previous record of $51 million, which donors poured into the Wisconsin Supreme Court race in 2023.
Heritage Action, the advocacy arm of the Washington, D.C.-based Heritage Foundation — the right-wing think tank behind Project 2025 — provided Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray with model legislation, detailed feedback, and line-by-line edits for a bill that limits foreign spending on campaigns for state ballot measures.
Spending in support of Democratic candidate Susan Crawford stands at approximately $40.3 million. The Crawford campaign spent roughly $22 million of that total, while the remaining spending has come from independent groups.
Schimel’s record on environmental issues is clear. When he served as attorney general between 2015 and 2019, he repeatedly sided with major polluters and worked to undermine environmental protections.
Turning Point Action, which campaigned for Donald Trump in Wisconsin in 2024, is deploying its get-out-the-vote machinery to back Brad Schimel in the Wisconsin Supreme Court election on April 1, 2025.
An arm of the Republican State Leadership Committee, dubbed the “Judicial Fairness Initiative” (RSLC-JFI), has spent at least $2 million dollars to aid the election ambitions of Brad Schimel for the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
An in-state network of right-wing political donors, groups, and operatives has teamed up to spend even more for Schimel than Elon Musk has.
Behind closed doors last month, House Democrats expressed their frustration at an unexpected target: their own base.