[A handful of donors have spent over $71 million supporting
federal and state candidates who cast doubt on the 2020 presidential
election, including races for key election administration positions
like secretary of state and governor.]
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BIG DONORS WORKING TO OVERTURN THE 2020 ELECTION ARE BACKING ELECTION
DENIAL CANDIDATES IN 2022  
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Julia Fishman and Ian Vandewalker
November 3, 2022
Brennan Center for Justice
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_ A handful of donors have spent over $71 million supporting federal
and state candidates who cast doubt on the 2020 presidential election,
including races for key election administration positions like
secretary of state and governor. _

,

 

With the midterms underway, we have a better sense than ever before of
how a few megadonors who have spent two years funding efforts to
discredit the 2020 election are trying to influence the results of the
2022 vote. Prominent national financial supporters of false claims
that the 2020 election was “stolen” from Donald Trump are spending
big in races across the country for Congress and state offices,
including positions that will play key roles in running or certifying
the 2024 elections.

The Brennan Center has gathered what’s known about spending by the
top national financers of election denying candidates. We found that
just seven sources (counting married couples and key groups as single
sources) have together given almost $71.5 million in support of state
and federal candidates who cast doubt on the 2020 election, through
both direct contributions and funding for super PACs.

The same sources have reportedly spent at least $64 million on efforts
to overturn President Biden’s win — like lawsuits, the ballot
review in Arizona’s Maricopa County, and the January 6 insurrection
— or manipulate election processes for this year’s races — such
as mass voter registration challenges in some counties and efforts in
several states to recruit poll monitors and workers sympathetic to
election denial. These activities are typically conducted through
groups that don’t disclose their finances. In most cases, the only
source of information available is a donor’s public claim to have
given some amount, so we have no way of knowing the true scale of this
spending. 

Despite the huge amounts of money backing election denier candidates,
they are still being outraised by their opponents in statewide races
in battleground states, as we recently detailed in this report
[[link removed]].

Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein

Packaging supplies magnate Richard Uihlein has funded
[[link removed]] several
groups tied to challenging the 2020 election and the January 6
insurrection. In the current election cycle, Uihlein and his wife,
Elizabeth, have donated almost $63 million to election denial
candidates and super PACs supporting them.

State Election Spending

Uihlein donated $12,000 to election denial candidates for secretary of
state in Georgia and Nevada. He had not previously donated
[[link removed]] to
secretary of state candidates in our sample going back at least
through the 2010 cycle. The American Principles Project, a group
largely funded by Uihlein, recently bought
[[link removed]] $300,000
worth of ads for Kim Crockett (R), an election denial candidate for
secretary of state in Minnesota who perpetuates
[[link removed]] the
false narrative that voter fraud is widespread. Together, the couple
has given more than $57.5 million to election denial candidates for
governor and supportive super PACs in states including Illinois,
Florida, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Of the $55 million, over $12
million went
[[link removed]] directly
[[link removed]] to
Darren Bailey (R), a candidate for governor in Illinois who denounced
the results of the 2020 election, saying
[[link removed]],
“all this fraudulent activity is absolutely disgusting” and
calling the alleged fraud “almost the highest form of treason in our
country.” Additionally, more than $42 million went
[[link removed]] to
a super PAC supporting Bailey called People Who Play by the Rules.

Federal Election Spending

The Uihleins have contributed $3.7 million to election denial
candidates running for the U.S. Senate and supportive super PACs
in Missouri
[[link removed]], Ohio
[[link removed]],
and Georgia
[[link removed]].
The couple has donated
[[link removed]] more
than $1.4 million to almost three dozen election denial candidates
across the country running for the U.S. House and supportive super
PACs.

Uihlein is the main funder of Restoration PAC, a super PAC that mostly
spends in federal elections but also boosted election denial
candidates in the Georgia gubernatorial primary, Arizona secretary of
state primary, and local elections in Wisconsin
[[link removed]]. In
the current election cycle, Uihlein provided
[[link removed]] $20.8
million of the committee’s $28.7 million revenue.

Election Challenge Activity Spending

Uihlein gave $1.25 million to the Conservative Partnership Institute,
which employs Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer who worked on the Trump
campaign’s lawsuit to “set aside and disregard the election
results
[[link removed]]”
in Georgia over alleged fraud and participated in the phone call
[[link removed]] in
which Donald Trump demanded state election officials “find” 11,780
votes for him. The Republican National Committee has relied
[[link removed]] on
Mitchell and the Conservative Partnership Institute for an “election
integrity” operation to recruit and train thousands of Republican
poll workers in battleground states. Uihlein has given to groups
involved in the January 6 insurrection, including $4.3 million to
the Tea Party Patriots
[[link removed]],
$200,000 to the Federalist Society
[[link removed]],
and $30,000 to Turning Point USA
[[link removed]].

Patrick Byrne

Former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne said
[[link removed]] he
has spent $20 million trying to convince people that the 2020 election
was stolen. He participated in a December 2020 Oval Office meeting
discussing the possibility of the military seizing voting machines.
Byrne is the main funder of the America Project, a nonprofit
that pushes
[[link removed]] election denial
narratives. In the current election cycle, Byrne and the America
Project have donated over $330,000 to election denial candidates and
super PACs supporting election deniers.

State Election Spending

The America Project has donated $219,000 to Conservatives for Election
Integrity PAC, a group that boosts election deniers in several states
and is controlled by Jim Marchant (R), a candidate for secretary of
state in Nevada who has said
[[link removed]] the
2020 election was “stolen.” The America Project also gave $100,000
to a Colorado super PAC called Citizens for Election Integrity
that supported
[[link removed]] election
denialist Tina Peters’s campaign for Colorado secretary of state.
Byrne has also given a total of $13,900 directly to election denial
candidates for secretary of state in states including Michigan,
Nevada, and Colorado. He had not previously donated
[[link removed]] to
secretary of state candidates in our sample going back at least
through the 2010 cycle.

Election Challenge Activity Spending

Byrne claims to have spent $20 million pushing election denial. Here
we list the activities that the press has reported. The America
Project contributed
[[link removed]] $3.25
million to help fund the partisan review of the 2020 election results
in Maricopa County, Arizona, by the company Cyber Ninjas. A person
Byrne said he paid
[[link removed]] $200,000
to investigate Colorado voting was present and spoke to Byrne over
FaceTime when Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters allowed unauthorized
access to voting machines, which led to her indictment.

Byrne said
[[link removed]] he
donated about $8 million to launch “Operation Eagles Wings,” an
“election integrity” drive that trains election denial activists
in swing states to work polls and knock on voters’ doors in an
attempt to find evidence of fraud. In addition, Byrne has funded an
“election integrity” group
[[link removed]] called
Virginians for America First; paid
[[link removed]] for
flights in support of the now-discredited investigation of voting
machines in Antrim County, Michigan; and, through the America Project,
supported a group
[[link removed]] called
One More Mission that recruits military veterans to monitor polls
with videos
[[link removed]] of
war imagery saying “beat the cheat.”

The America Project funds
[[link removed]] VoterGA’s
ongoing mass voter registration challenges in Georgia and sponsored
[[link removed]] a
lawsuit by the Macomb County Republican Party to “decertify” and
“re-run” Michigan’s 2020 presidential election. The America
Project also gave $100,000 to Secure MI Vote, a group opposed to a
Michigan ballot proposal that seeks to expand voting rights and
preempt efforts to enact stricter voter ID laws.

Save America PAC

Former President Donald Trump formed his leadership PAC, Save America,
just days after the 2020 election. It has raised $135 million, in
large part by soliciting
[[link removed]] donations
to help challenge the “stolen” election. Save America has donated
almost $4.7 million to election denial candidates and super PACs
supporting election deniers in this election cycle. Separately,
two Trump-affiliated
[[link removed]] super
PACs
[[link removed]] spent
[[link removed]] at
least $10 million on ads supporting election deniers.

STATE ELECTION SPENDING

The PAC donated $17,000 to election denial candidates for secretary of
state in Arizona, Michigan, and Georgia. The group has given more than
$3.1 million to election denial candidates for governor and supportive
super PACs in Arizona and Georgia.

FEDERAL ELECTION SPENDING

Save America has donated
[[link removed]] more
than $1 million to election denial candidates for the U.S. Senate and
supportive super PACs in states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Georgia.
It has also contributed
[[link removed]] $505,000
directly to the campaigns of approximately 100 election denial
candidates from across the country running for the U.S. House.

ELECTION CHALLENGE ACTIVITY SPENDING

Save America gave $1 million to the Conservative Partnership
Institute, discussed above. The group also donated
[[link removed]] $1 million to
the America First Policy Institute, a think tank set up by former
Trump officials to promote his agenda and “election integrity”
themes. And Save America contributed $150,000 to Secure MI Vote, the
group opposing Michigan’s ballot initiative that would expand voting
access.

Michael Rydin

Michael Rydin, the CEO of a Texas construction software company, has
ties to the Conservative Partnership Institute. In the current
election cycle, he has donated $15,500 to election denial candidates
running for statewide positions.

STATE ELECTION SPENDING

Rydin contributed $12,000 to Jody Hice’s (R) secretary of state
campaign in Georgia. He had not previously donated
[[link removed]] to
secretary of state candidates in our sample going back through at
least the 2010 cycle. He gave $2,500 to the reelection campaign of
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who has promoted
[[link removed]] election
denial theories. Rydin also donated $1,000 to Texas Attorney General
Ken Paxton (R), who led a lawsuit
[[link removed]] that
attempted to block other states’ Electoral College votes.

ELECTION CHALLENGE ACTIVITY SPENDING

According to a Conservative Partnership Institute report,
Rydin helped
[[link removed]] the
organization buy a $1.5 million townhouse, which the group now calls
[[link removed]] the
“Rydin House,” next to their leased headquarters.

Presidential Coalition

The Presidential Coalition is led by David Bossie, whom the Trump
campaign initially assigned to lead its election challenge efforts
[[link removed]] before
Bossie was sidelined by a Covid-19 infection. The group has
contributed a total of $180,250 to election denial candidates running
for secretary of state, attorney general, and governor.

STATE ELECTION SPENDING

The Presidential Coalition gave
[[link removed]] $167,750 to
election denial candidates for governor and supportive super PACs in
states like Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Florida. The group
also gave [[link removed]] a
total of $10,000 to election denial candidates for secretary of state
in Georgia, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. The Presidential
Coalition contributed
[[link removed]] $2,500 to
Matthew DePerno (R), a candidate for attorney general in Michigan who
questioned the 2020 results and is accused
[[link removed]] of
involvement in improper access to voting machines to gather evidence
of fraud.

Other Donors

Home Depot cofounder Bernard Marcus has contributed a total of $3.35
million in this election cycle to election denial candidates and super
PACs supporting election deniers, including $500,000 to DeSantis and
$100,000 to a super PAC supporting Tudor Dixon (R), a candidate for
governor in Michigan who responded
[[link removed]] “yes”
when asked if Donald Trump won the 2020 election.

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell claims to have spent
[[link removed]] up
to $35 million trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Lindell says he funneled
[[link removed]] as
much as $800,000 to Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters’s legal defense.
He also gave
[[link removed]] about
$500,000 to a lawsuit in Arizona filed by Mark Finchem and Kari Lake,
Republican election denial candidates for secretary of state and
governor in Arizona, respectively. The lawsuit sought to eliminate
Arizona’s voting machines but was dismissed for lack of evidence. In
addition, Lindell funds
[[link removed]] Cause
of America, a group that spreads false claims about election fraud.

•  •  •

The top national financers of election denial candidates have poured
tens of millions of dollars into state and federal elections and
election–challenge activities in recent years. Many of the donors
we identified had not previously given in races for secretaries of
state, positions that will play key roles in running the 2024
elections.

With Election Day coming up, we will soon have more evidence as to
whether contributions by election denial–supporting individuals and
organizations helped elect election deniers in swing states and around
the country.

* Money in Politics
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* elections
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*
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