The Concord Fund’s $1.5 million contribution to the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) in the third quarter made it the top funder of the right-wing group leading opposition to abortion rights and other key aspects of President Biden’s agenda, a Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) analysis has found.
Leonard Leo’s Concord Fund (formerly registered as the Judicial Crisis Network) has contributed $3.5 million to RAGA this year and $20.3 million since the organization was founded in 2014. Since 2020, RAGA has paid his PR firm Creative Response Concepts (doing business as CRC Advisors) $7,500 per month for “consulting,” CMD’s review of RAGA’s IRS filings indicates.
RAGA disclosed bringing in a total of $5.7 million for the quarter, according to its latest IRS filing obtained by CMD. With the $5.3 million raised in the first quarter and the $6.3 million in the second, that brings RAGA’s fundraising total to $17.3 million so far this year — an almost 30% increase over its 2022 haul in the first three quarters.
In 2020, industrialist billionaire Barre Seid gave Leo a $1.6-billion trust fund, which the Christian Right extremist has weaponized to shift the nation’s courts to the far right, fight “woke capitalism,” strip women of their healthcare rights, and advance voter suppression policies across the country.
The contribution of $1 million from the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) placed it second among all RAGA donors in the third quarter. The Big Tobacco company Altria and the law firm Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough each gave RAGA $200,000, making them tied as the third largest donors. Altria has now contributed $450,000 to RAGA in 2024.
In conjunction with its 501(c)(4) affiliate Rule of Law Defense Fund (RLDF) and its 501(c)(3) affiliate Center for Law and Policy (CLP), RAGA runs a cash-for-influence operation that coordinates the official actions of Republican state attorneys general and sells its corporate funders access to them and their staff.
RAGA Spends $12.4 Million on Elections
In its filing, RAGA disclosed spending $12.4 million in support of Republican candidates for attorney general, with three weeks left until Election Day.
Attorney general races are taking place in 10 states this year, but the only ones considered competitive are in North Carolina and Pennsylvania, according to Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball.
RAGA disclosed funneling over $2.7 million to the NC Republican Council of State Committee, signaling that the pay-to-play group is committed to flipping the office currently held by Attorney General Josh Stein (D), who is running for governor.
Two members of the U.S. House, Jeff Jackson (D) and Dan Bishop (R), are competing for the open position. In September, RAGA announced that it was expanding its seven-figure digital ad buy with a broadcast ad portraying Jackson as “Less Safe” through a group it backs called Safer North Carolina.
RAGA’s latest IRS filing shows that it paid $2.1 million to Del Cielo Media for “TV placement”; $2 million to The Valentine Group for “digital placement”; and $650,000 to Sparkfire Technologies for “text messages.”
The next largest contributions RAGA made were in the Pennsylvania and Missouri races for attorney general. In Pennsylvania, RAGA donated $550,000 to Dave Sunday’s campaign committee. Sunday (R) is facing off against Eugene DePasquale (D) for the open position created by Democratic Attorney General Michelle Henry’s decision not to run.
When Sunday won the GOP primary in April, RAGA Executive Director Peter Bisbee said, “The vast differences between Sunday and DePasquale will be exploited by RAGA in the coming months through the organization’s largest investment to date in Pennsylvania.”
RAGA also donated $550,000 to the Liberty and Justice PAC, which is supporting Missouri AG Andrew Bailey (R) in his race against Elad Gross (D). CMD reported in January 2023 that The Concord Fund and Bisbee had backed former Leo lieutenant Will Scharf in the primary but he ultimately lost to Bailey. While RAGA issued press releases on its site congratulating GOP candidates for their primary wins, it did not issue one for Bailey.
In the third quarter, RAGA also made sizable contributions to the Todd Rokita Election Committee ($250,000) and the Montana Republican Party ($200,000).
In Indiana, incumbent Attorney General Todd Rokita (R) is being challenged by Destiny Scott Wells (D), and in Montana incumbent Austin Knudsen (R) is facing off against challenger Ben Alke (D).
RAGA committed $70,000 to elect Derek Brown the next attorney general in Utah, contributing $50,000 to his campaign and another $20,000 to the UT GOP. Brown (R) is competing against Rudy Bautista (D) for the open position left by outgoing attorney general and current RAGA Chairman Sean Reyes.
In a strange move, RAGA also gave $25,000 to the Kelly for New Hampshire campaign in support of gubernatorial candidate Kelly Ayotte (R).
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