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Report: Dems Spend Hundreds of Thousands To Attack GOP Candidates as Traitors to Trump

Dem-funded Voter Participation Project also boosting spoiler Libertarian candidates

A voter casts their ballot at a polling station
Getty Images
October 26, 2022

Democrats are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to paint GOP candidates as traitors to Donald Trump and boost spoiler Libertarian candidates.

The Voter Participation Project, a Democratic PAC, has spent close to $700,000 in attack ads and mailers in three races. In California, the group is seeking to steer Trump-friendly voters from supporting incumbent David Valadao (R., Calif.), one of 10 GOP House members to vote for the former president’s impeachment.

"David Valadao Is A Traitor Who Turned His Back On President Trump To Serve His Own Interests," a website created by the PAC says. "HE EVEN VOTED AGAINST PRESIDENT TRUMP'S BORDER WALL."

The group is also running ads in Michigan and Kansas, urging right-leaning voters to support the Libertarian candidate instead, Axios reports:

In two other districts, both represented by vulnerable Democratic incumbents, VPP is working to boost spoiler Libertarian candidates.

    • Recent VPP mail pieces in Michigan attacked Republican Paul Junge as a "former California banker who went to UC Berkeley" and say he "supports raising taxes."

    • Junge is taking on Democratic incumbent Dan Kildee in a race that the Cook Political Report recently moved from "toss-up" to "lean Democrat."

    • VPP's mailers urge voters to support Libertarian candidate David Canny, who will "stop wasteful spending" and "pass a balanced budget amendment."

A VPP website devoted to attacking Kansas Republican candidate Amanda Adkins, who's challenging Democrat Sharice Davids, describes her as a "typical DC swamp creature" who "serves the interests of the DC elites."

    • It urges votes for Libertarian candidate Steve Hohe, who will "crack down on illegal immigration" and "eliminate the federal income tax."

The group's largest donor is the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which recently denied Mexican-born congresswoman Marya Flores (R., Texas) from joining its group over her party affiliation.