🤫 Carpetbagger super PACs

Plus: Zelensky's big wish | Sunday, April 17, 2022

Open in app View in browser   Presented By Facebook   Axios Sneak Peek By the Axios Politics team · Apr 17, 2022 Welcome back to Sneak. We hope you've had a restful, peaceful weekend of hope. Smart Brevity™ count: 963 words ... 3.5 minutes. Edited by Glen Johnson.     1 big thing: Carpetbagger super PACs Data: FEC; Chart: Sara Wise/Axios Candidates in key midterm primaries are getting huge cash boosts from wealthy out-of-state donors — funneled through groups that can raise and spend unlimited sums for them, according to an analysis by Axios' Lachlan Markay. Why it matters: The massive out-of-state spending shows the degree to which high-profile congressional races have been nationalized. It precedes major Senate primaries, including Ohio's on May 3 and Pennsylvania's on May 17. How it works: Axios examined Federal Election Commission filings for 26 top-tier, single-candidate super PACs. The independent groups spend in support of, or, in some cases, in opposition to, one specific midterm hopeful. Spending through March 31 was made public after a Friday reporting deadline. The big picture: Those 26 super PACs together reported raising $84 million so far this cycle. More than three-fourths of that haul came from donors who don't reside in the states where those groups are spending. Half of the 26 received at least 95% of their funding from out of state. These include the top three single-candidate super PACs of the cycle so far: Honor Pennsylvania, Saving Arizona and Protect Ohio Values. The details: Honor Pennsylvania is backing Republican David McCormick in that state's Senate race. All of its $15.3 million in receipts came from outside of Pennsylvania, the filings showed. Saving Arizona and Protect Ohio Values — groups backing Republican Senate hopefuls Blake Masters and J.D. Vance, respectively— are funded almost entirely by a single out-of-state donor, California tech mogul Peter Thiel. Vance rival Josh Mandel enjoys the backing of the USA Freedom Fund, which got 100% of its nearly $2 million this cycle from out of state. Keep reading.     2. Zelensky's big wish Olena Siksoy kisses a picture of her son, Ukrainian soldier Ruslan Siksoy, during his burial Sunday at Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv, Ukraine. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images   Amid the most personal of religious holidays, and as Ukraine defied Russia's demands to surrender besieged Mariupol, Volodymyr Zelensky offered an epitaph in case he doesn't survive the war: "A human being that loved life to the fullest and loved his family and loved his motherland — definitely not a hero," he told CNN for an interview taped over Passover weekend and airing Easter Sunday. "I want people to take me as I am: a regular human." Why it matters: Zelensky's evolution from comic to Ukrainian president has only been upstaged by his emergence as a world leader, writes Axios' Glen Johnson. That was on display in the interview, as he invited and predicted an eventual visit from President Biden, and framed the stakes for his nation around biblical themes of freedom, sacrifice, exodus and resurrection. Asked to name his own heroes, Zelensky singled out his power base: "Only the people." "I understand I have to be the strongest one in this situation ... and the most important is the way my children look at me. They have to be proud of me. This is the most important thing. I do everything for this." Keep reading.     3. Charted: GOP's inflation talking point Data: Quorum; Chart: Erin Davis/Axios Visuals Republican lawmakers have talked about inflation six times more than Democrats since the start of the year, according to new data compiled by Quorum and reviewed by Axios' Alayna Treene. Why it matters: Inflation has not only become a major flashpoint in domestic politics but the biggest and most prominent line of attack from Republicans ahead of this fall's midterms. They've also leaned heavily on the monthly release of the Consumer Price Index to further fuel their inflationary messaging. The GOP isn't alone: Inflation is a leading topic of concern among vulnerable Democrats. They recognize price increases for everything from food to gas as a major weakness for the party — especially after last week's CPI report revealed the U.S. hit the highest annual rate of inflation in 40 years. By the numbers: Since Jan. 1, Republicans have mentioned "inflation" on their official Twitter accounts and Facebook, through press releases, in floor statements and in newsletters to constituents 8,158 times, Quorum found. During that same time frame, Democrats mentioned it just 1,321 times. ✅ Stay tuned: Tomorrow night, Axios will bring you a list of the top 10 lawmakers from each party who discuss inflation the most.     A message from Facebook Facebook has invested $16 billion to keep you safe on our platform     Facebook invested $16B in safety and security over 6 years. The impact? Quadrupled safety and security teams. Developed industry-leading AI that detects harmful content and reacts as it evolves. Addressed millions of harmful posts and removed 1.7B fake accounts in the last few months. Learn what's next.     4. Worthy of your time Mei Xiang (left) and Xiao Qi Ji eat an ice cake on Saturday to mark the 50th anniversary celebration of the Smithsonian National Zoo's Giant Panda program. Photo: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/For The Washington Post via Getty Images   💨 Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), who voted for President Trump's impeachment and now plans to retire after this term, said on CNN's "State of the Union" an influx of death threats against members makes breaking with their party on votes "frightening." He also warned that dynamic could prevent "good people" from running for Congress, Axios' Andrew Solender writes in this evening's Sneak roundup. 🦠 White House COVID-19 coordinator Ashish Jha said in a Fox News Sunday interview the White House Correspondents' Dinner should not be canceled because "we are at a point in this pandemic where I think we can gather safely." 🗣️ Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) joined other moderate Senate Democrats in publicly bristling at the Biden administration's plans to end Title 42, a Trump-era COVID-19 immigration ban. The close ally of the president said during a CBS "Face the Nation" interview, "My hope is that that will be reconsidered appropriately." 🔪 Donald Trump posted several backhanded "Happy Easter" statements targeting "Radical Left Maniacs who are doing everything possible to destroy our Country," and New York Attorney General Letitia James. He called her a "failed gubernatorial candidate and racist." 💵 California software magnate Dan O'Dowd is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in a Democratic campaign for Sen. Alex Padilla's (D-Calif.) seat, even as his associates say his aim is to secure more favorable rates for ads targeting billionaire Elon Musk — and not to win, according to Politico.     5. Pic du jour Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images   Public tours of the White House are resuming after being suspended because of COVID-19. Requests must be submitted through a member of either the House or Senate. There will be a crowd outside on the South Lawn tomorrow for the annual Easter Egg Roll. It also was suspended the past two years because of coronavirus concerns.     A message from Facebook Choose end-to-end encrypted messages on Messenger     Your personal conversations should be as private as you want them to be. That's why you can add a layer of protection to your chats in Messenger, and even voice and video calls, with end-to-end encryption. So you can connect in a more private, secure way. See how else we're keeping you safe online.   🚀 Thanks for starting your week with us. Please tell your family, friends and colleagues they can subscribe to Sneak or any of Axios' other free local and national newsletters through this link. Like this email style and format? It's called Smart Brevity®. Over 200 orgs use it — in a tool called Axios HQ — to drive productivity with clearer workplace communications.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. 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