A Super PAC supporting Washington governor Jay Inslee's (D.) presidential ambitions has spent more than $1 million in the first month of his candidacy.
Act Now on Climate PAC, which is run by a former top Inslee staffer, spent nearly $1.3 million on TV and digital ads, the Center for Responsive Politics noted earlier this week. The expenses have all occurred since March 1, when Inslee announced his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.
The PAC spent more than $498,000 of its overall total on a March 5 media buy, according to documents filed with the Federal Elections Commission. Its most recent expenditure came on March 19 when the group invested $125,000 on digital ads.
Inslee, who is running a climate change centered campaign, is one of the only 2020 Democrats that hasn't disavowed the support of Super PACs. The governor's unwillingness to reject Super PAC money has led to criticism from core groups within the Democratic Party's base.
Shortly after Inslee jumped into the presidential race, End Citizens United, a liberal advocacy group working to "end big money in politics," publicly urged him to jettison the "mega-donors and dark money groups that are drowning out the" voice of voters.
"We urge you to join the candidates in the Democratic presidential primary who have taken this bold step, and publicly disavow this effort and any other effort to create a single-candidate super PAC that serves as a shadow support to your campaign," the group said in a letter to Inslee. "We hope you will strive to run a campaign that demonstrates to primary voters that you will put people before special interests."
Inslee dismissed the criticism, saying he wouldn't turn down the help of any group run by individuals that "want to defeat climate change."