ICYMI: Group with GOP Ties Backs Green Party’s Jill Stein with Ads, Mail Arrow

Today, new reporting from the Washington Post revealed that Republican-led super PAC Badger Values spent at least $307,000 on direct mail and advertising to boost third-party candidate Jill Stein in Wisconsin.

Similarly, RealClearPolitics recently reported that a Republican-aligned dark money group, Fair Election Fund, has taken credit for propping up the spoiler campaigns of Stein and independent candidate Cornel West by investing in paid media in critical swing states.

By boosting Stein and West's candidacies, Republicans aim to siphon votes from Vice President Harris and help Donald Trump win the election.

In response, DNC Communications Advisor Lis Smith released the following statement:

"Jill Stein has no chance of winning this election, but Republicans and Donald Trump know that she can help deliver them the White House. That's why Republicans are spending heavily in battleground states like Wisconsin to prop up her spoiler candidacy and manipulate voters. Republican operatives like Badger Values PAC couldn't make it any clearer - a vote for Stein is a vote for Trump."

Badger Value PAC's manipulative mailer in Wisconsin

ICYMI: Washington Post: Group with GOP ties backs Green Party's Jill Stein with ads, mail

By: Michael Scherer

• A super PAC with Republican Party ties has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent days to support the Green Party presidential candidacy of Jill Stein in Wisconsin, in another sign that the supporters of the major parties believe her campaign could affect the election result.
• Badger Values PAC, a new federal PAC founded by a longtime Republican operative with ties to Senate GOP leadership, has reported in recent days matched expenditures opposing Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, and supporting Stein. Other spending has been reported as supporting the campaign of Republican Donald Trump.
• In total, the group reported $982,905 in spending through Oct. 23, including at least $307,000 that names Stein in direct mail or other advertising.
• One direct mail piece from the group, which was obtained by the Post, shows a picture of Stein on one side gazing out over a midwestern river. On the other side, there is a picture of dirty water coming from a kitchen tap, with a claim about "our children" drinking poisoned water […]
• "As President, JILL STEIN Would End Pollution in Our Great Lakes and Rivers," it reads. "Kamala Harris and Co. Don't Care About Our Environment. VOTE FOR JILL STEIN by November 5th."
• The group has the same name, address and treasurer of a group that registered in 2022 in Wisconsin to support the failed Republican primary bid of state attorney general candidate Adam Jarchow.
• Les Williamson, who helped to lead both groups as treasurer, has a long history of working on GOP Senate efforts including the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
• Williamson worked as a deputy finance director at the NRSC in 2016 and helped create White Mountain PAC in 2022. That group was funded by the Senate Leadership Fund, a group run by aides to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Timothy Mellon, the heir to a steel and banking fortune, who is a top donor this year in support of Trump's candidacy.
• White Mountain spent heavily in the Republican U.S. Senate primary in New Hampshire to support Chuck Morse, the state Senate president, who was seen as a more electable candidate than Don Bolduc, the person who won that primary and lost the general election.