- Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar each have a new super PAC backing them, even though both candidates have tried to distinguish themselves by eschewing super PAC support.
- Persist PAC, which supports Warren and filed with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday, has already taken out a $1 million ad buy in Nevada.
- Kitchen Table Conversations, launched last week, will support Klobuchar, and it is spending money on ads in Nevada and South Carolina.
- Both women are trailing in the polls behind Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden, with self-funded billionaire Michael Bloomberg gaining traction thanks to enormous spending.
- The super PAC support could help Warren and Klobuchar survive, but open them up to criticism of hypocrisy and take away a key distinction from other candidates.
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren has repeatedly said she would eschew Super PAC funds — instead casting herself as a progressive whose campaign is bolstered by grassroots support. But after Warren finished third in Iowa, and a disappointing fourth in New Hampshire, at least one band of supporters has decided not to listen.
A new Super PAC, known as "Persist PAC," has launched to support Warren's election effort. Such entities have the ability to raise unlimited funds but cannot coordinate with a campaign. It was founded by four women with a history in progressive politics, Denise Feriozzi, Kristine Kippins, Karin Johanson, and Kim Rogers, who aim to get Warren's message out to as broad an audience as possible.
A similar effort, the Kitchen Table Conversations Super PAC, launched to support Sen. Amy Klobuchar and has spent $1.1 million to push ads in Nevada and South Carolina, Open Secrets reported. Klobuchar has also said she does not embrace the backing of super PACs, but she is currently trailing the top-tier candidates in recent national polls.
These super PACs' efforts could provide critical financial support for the women as Sen. Bernie Sanders pulls ahead in national and Nevada polls and billionaire Michael Bloomberg pumps hundreds of millions of dollars into advertising. But it also creates a political conundrum for both candidates, who have both sworn off support from Super PACs.
At February's New Hampshire Democratic debate, Warren sought to distinguish herself — and Klobuchar — from the rest of the field by claiming, "everyone on this stage except Amy and me is either a billionaire or is receiving help from PACs that can do unlimited spending."
When asked by Insider why Persist PAC launched despite Warren's vow to reject such support, spokesman Joshua Karp declined to comment.
Persist PAC filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday, records show, with a name inspired by a now-infamous 2017 quote by Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who had chastised her for a speech opposing former then Sen. Jeff Sessions's nomination for Attorney General.
The PAC's website shows an image of Warren mid-speech, her fist raised, alongside the words "FIGHT. PERSIST. WIN."
It continues on to declare that "Elizabeth Warren has been fighting for the middle class her whole life" and that "she's the one to take on Trump in 2020 and win."
The group has released one pro-Warren ad, which was posted on YouTube on Tuesday and will run on TV and digital platforms in Nevada beginning Wednesday, Axios reported. Karp told Axios their ad buy was more than $1 million.
Last year, Warren's campaign told The Washington Post's Fact Checker that the campaign would encourage any super PACs founded to support the candidate to cease operations. Over half of Warren's fundraising comes from contributions of less than $200, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
The campaign told Axios in a statement that "Senator Warren's position hasn't changed. Since day one of this campaign, she has made clear that she thinks all of the candidates should lock arms together and say we don't want super PACS and billionaires to be deciding our Democratic nominee."
The new PACs supporting Warren and Klobuchar won't be required to reveal their donors before the Nevada caucuses, according to Open Secrets. But The New York Times' Jonathan Martin reported that Emily's List, an organization that backs pro-choice female candidates, had donated a quarter of a million dollars each to new outside groups supporting each woman.
.@emilyslist still isn’t endorsing but they are wading into the race....to help @amyklobuchar and @ewarren
— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) February 19, 2020
They “have made equal donations of $250,000 to each” of the new outside groups supporting the two senators, per @creynoldsnc
A recent Las Vegas Review-Journal and AARP poll of likely Nevada Democratic caucus attendees showed Sanders led the candidates with 25%, while former Vice President Joe Biden held on to second place with 18% of support. Warren was in third place, with 13% of support, with Klobuchar and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg both receiving 10%.
As the Nevada caucuses approach Saturday and national polls show fellow progressive Sanders opening up a double-digit lead on the rest of the field, Warren's campaign has asked supporters to help her meet a $7 million fundraising target by Friday. She has embraced a strategy of eliciting small-dollar donations from supporters in a show of grassroots report.
But whether she likes it or not, she now has a super PAC behind her as well.
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