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Sen. Mark Kelly’s (D-AZ) campaign has received a last-minute boost ahead of the November midterm elections from a liberal dark money group that has called to “defund” police, filings show.
Living United for Change in Arizona has spent roughly $350,000 since Oct. 21 on independent expenditures for Kelly’s campaign, according to Federal Election Commission filings. The 501(c)(4) nonprofit group, which does not have to disclose its donors, handed the money to door-knockers in Arizona to convince voters to back Kelly.
Kelly, a former astronaut, has tried to distance himself from the left-wing movement that supports defunding law enforcement. But Living United, which in 2019 received $1.5 million from George Soros’s Open Society Policy Center, hasn’t exactly done the same.
WATCH: EXCLUSIVE WITH MARK KELLY, ‘BORDER IS A CRISIS’
Mark Kelly
“PHX City Council votes to adopt a tentative annual budget tomorrow,” Living United tweeted in June 2020. “Phoenix has one of the deadliest police forces. They do not protect the community. Phx needs to defund police and invest in programs that create healthy communities. Join us tomorrow in person or online. Info.”
Living United has posted several clips on social media showing its attendance at “defund the police” rallies. The organization has also taken aim at U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — two federal agencies tasked with protecting the border and arresting illegal immigrants.
“Not a victory until parents & children are freed!” Living United tweeted in 2018. “We must #AbolishICE & #AbolishCBP!”
“Yesterday outside of the ICE building in Phoenix community send a clear and loud message: #AbolishICE and no one belongs in cages! #FreedomForImmigrants #FreeOurFuture,” Living United also tweeted in 2018.
Living United’s independent expenditures were first reported by the Washington Free Beacon.
In October 2021, Living United made national headlines when its members followed Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) into a bathroom at Arizona State University and filmed her. The members questioned Sinema over her prior lack of support for the Democratic-led Build Back Better Act, which did not clear the Senate.
Between 2019 and 2020, Living United received $250,000 from the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a liberal dark money lobbying group that is part of the Arabella Advisors network, a nonprofit group incubator and consulting firm. Arabella Advisors was founded by Eric Kessler, who served in President Bill Clinton’s administration and was national field director for the League of Conservation Voters, a dark money environmentalist nonprofit group.
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Kelly’s race against Blake Masters could decide which party takes control of the Senate in 2022. The astronaut leads Masters by 3 percentage points, according to a FiveThirtyEight polling average.
Kelly’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment. Living United did not respond.
