A Democratic political action committee is spending more than $100,000 in a New Hampshire primary to promote a more conservative candidate, in keeping with a strategy that has divided party members.
Democrats Serve, a PAC formed in March 2021, has spent $242,839.91 in independent expenditures and in-kind donations across eight House races during the 2022 cycle. The PAC claims to support Democrats “running for office with public service backgrounds.” Democrats Serve’s largest donor is the National Education Association’s (NEA) affiliated Super PAC, NEA Action, which gave $150,000 in June.
The organization reserved $100,311 worth of television and online advertising to promote former 2016 Republican National Convention delegate and two-time congressional candidate Bob Burns. Burns, who is endorsed by several former Trump campaign state officials, is facing off against Keene Mayor George Hansel, who is receiving support from Republican Gov. Chris Sununu.
Overall, Burns has raised $30,647, with his campaign taking out an additional $150,500 loan, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
The Democrats Serve ad is similar to others run by Democratic organizations in Republican primaries. It claims that Burns is “the ultra-conservative candidate for Congress.” (RELATED: Democrat Meddling In GOP Primaries Sees Mixed Results)
“I’m also the only pro-Trump unapologetic conservative. I’m against a pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens, I want to build the wall, and I’m an America First candidate,” Burns says in the ad.
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“Burns follows the Trump playbook on immigration, the border, and guns. If we send Bob Burns, the ‘unapologetic conservative,’ to Congress, New Hampshire is gonna get burned,” a narrator adds.
Democrat Annie Kuster, who has represented New Hampshire’s Second District since 2013, is considered one of the party’s more embattled incumbents. The Second District leans two points to the left, according to FiveThirtyEight, although Kuster and Joe Biden both won it by more than eight points in 2020.
The decision to promote further-right candidates in GOP primaries has divided Democrats, with some claiming that it could backfire in the event of a Republican wave election. The ad campaign succeeded in pushing former Housing and Urban Development official John Gibbs over the top against Michigan Rep. Peter Meijer, who was one of ten Republicans who voted to impeach Trump.
“I’m disgusted that hard-earned money intended to support Democrats is being used to boost Trump-endorsed candidates,” Democratic Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips said shortly before Meijer’s primary.
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) chairman Sean Patrick Maloney of New York has defended the practice, claiming that “it does make sense” in certain races.