Two heavy spenders in KS Senate race accused of hiding ties to D.C. party leadership
A campaign finance watchdog group is calling out two super PACs that spent heavily in Kansas’ high-profile 2020 U.S. Senate race for not disclosing their ties to national party leadership super PACs — one aligned with Republicans and one with Democrats.
The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center on Thursday filed complaints with the Federal Election Commission against Plains PAC and Sunflower State, saying they violated election laws that would have required them to disclose their affiliation with the political spending goliaths.
“Senior leaders of both parties have been steering money from wealthy special interests to front groups specifically designed to trick voters,” said Adav Noti, senior director of the CLC, which filed complaints against 23 super PACs that worked to influence elections around the country.
“Voters have a right to know when big money is flowing into their elections from D.C.-based groups hiding their agendas and funding behind fake names. The vast scope of this illegal concealment should prompt swift investigation and a firm crackdown by the FEC,” Noti said.
Kansas-centric names aside, Plains PAC and Sunflower State illegally concealed the fact that they were “established, financed, maintained or controlled by” powerful out-of-state entities, the CLC said.
Of the $15.1 million raised by Plains PAC, $14.98 million came from the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC affiliated with Republican leadership. After the general election, Plains PAC gave $4,000 back to Senate Leadership Fund.
Plains PAC spent $3 million during the primary on attack ads against firebrand conservative Kris Kobach. Once Roger Marshall secured the nomination, the group funded $12 million of negative advertising against Democrat Barbara Bollier.
A majority of the $5.3 million Sunflower State spent on the Senate contest came from Senate Majority PAC, a super PAC affiliated with Democratic leadership. In February, Sunflower State transferred $7,291 to Senate Majority PAC before filing a termination report.
Sunflower State’s main objective was to meddle in the Republican primary. The PAC aimed to drive conservative voters away from Marshall, who many Democrats saw as a less favorable opponent than Kobach, the former secretary of state who lost to Laura Kelly in the 2018 gubernatorial race.
“Kris Kobach: He’s too conservative. Kobach won’t compromise on building the wall or getting tough on China,” the narrator of one such television ad stated. “And Roger Marshall’s a phony. After backing a Mitt Romney-like candidate for president, he’s been soft on Trump and weak on immigration.”
FEC records list Jim Jesse, a Lawrence-based lawyer, as Sunflower State’s treasurer and custodian of records. Jesse did not return a phone call Thursday morning.
C.J. Grover, executive director of Plains PAC, recently served a stint as communications director for the Kansas Republican Party. Grover could not be reached for comment Thursday.
This story was originally published July 15, 2021 at 1:33 PM.