“A group affiliated with the Democratic Party spent $410 million promoting the Democratic Party in 2020 – than than DNC,” Pat Ryan, a spokesman for Ms. Bond, said in an email. “The head of the DCCC is see hundreds thousands of dollars from outside groups also poured into his race. Republicans can keep up or lose.”
Mr. Salame’s colleague, Sam Bankman-Fried, the billionaire founder of FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange that owns FTX Digital Markets, is playing on the opposite side of the political spectrum. Through a PAC called Defend Our Future, he is supporting Democratic candidates statewide.
In the Third and Fourth Counties of Nassau County, Protecting Our Future PAC spent more than $500,000 on television and digital ads supporting Joshua Lafazan, a Nassau County Democratic Party lawmaker, and more than $250,000 in support of the campaign of Laura Gillen, former supervisor of the Town of Hempstead’s Democratic Party.
In similar statements, Mr. Lafazan and Ms. Gillen said they were honored to receive the financial support of the group.
In New York’s 22nd District, which includes the cities of Syracuse and Utica, the PAC has spent more than $500,000 to support Francis Conole, a Democratic veteran of the Iraq War.
Mike Levine, a spokesman for PACs, said: “Defend Our Future supports candidates across the country who we believe will be pandemic prevention champions during the Pandemic. next meeting”.
But watchdog groups wary of big money in politics worry that other motives are at work as well.
“This kind of spending is often an attempt to buy access and influence, which the industry will likely want as it faces potential regulation by Congress,” said Adam Bozzi, a spokesman for the company. End Citizens United, a group that specializes in reversing the Supreme Court decision, said it allowed unregulated money to flow into political campaigns. “The system is clearly broken.”
Nicholas Fandos contributed reporting and Susan Beachy contributed research.
