Anonymous ID: d23bf6 March 29, 2021, 3:37 p.m. No.13324624   🗄️.is đź”—kun

https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2021/03/corporate-pacs-bankroll-liz-cheney

 

As House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) prepares for an intense primary election, business PACs are giving her an early fundraising boost.

 

Cheney’s campaign and leadership PAC received $74,600 from business PACs through February, a figure that pales in comparison to previous years but was second only to Schumer’s $111,000 this year.

 

Cheney will need money to compete with Trump’s deep-pocketed committees and outside groups aiming to unseat her such as the Club for Growth. PACs associated with several major companies —including Walmart, American Express, Morgan Stanley, T-Mobile and Pfizer — bankrolled Cheney’s accounts last month. AT&T, one of the top annual PAC donors, gave $10,000 to Cheney’s campaign.

 

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who raked in $2.3 million from business PACs in the 2020 cycle, didn’t receive any such PAC donations to start the new year. He was one of 147 Republicans who voted to overturn the 2020 election results. Several top firms are no longer donating to these lawmakers, although some company PACs continue to fund party committees overseen by them.

 

Moderate GOP lawmakers, particularly anti-Trump Republicans, have emerged as early business PAC favorites. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) ranks among the top PAC recipients so far, raising over $37,000. The six-term lawmaker launched a PAC to defend Republicans who sided against Trump.

 

Business PACs also favored a leadership PAC controlled by Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), a leading Republican Trump critic, and campaign accounts run by Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.). Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), another top Trump target, was the only active GOP candidate to receive money from Google’s PAC through February.

 

Cheney and other anti-Trump Republicans will likely benefit from establishment support as Trump aims to remake the GOP in his image. Through February, Cheney received donations from leadership PACs controlled by Rep. Tom Rice (R-S.C.) and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) — both voted against Trump on impeachment — as well as former Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Former House Speaker Paul Ryan is also raising money for Cheney’s reelection bid, Politico reported.