Texas AG goes after Democratic fundraising as GOP outspent in key races

Source: The Hill

10/21/24 3:42 PM ET


Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Monday called on federal regulators to make it more difficult for donors to use ActBlue, a popular progressive fundraising platform that has collected record donations for the Harris campaign. Recent polling by the University of Texas shows Vice President Harris within 5 points of former President Trump in Texas — the closest a Democrat has been to winning the state since the days of Bill Clinton.

In a letter to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Paxton accused the platform of failing to keep off “straw donors,” people who use another person’s money to make a donation in their own name. “Our investigation into ActBlue has uncovered facts indicating that bad actors can illegally interfere in American elections by disguising political donations,” Paxton said in a statement.

ActBlue targets small-dollar donations and has been a major part of the Democratic fundraising apparatus, collecting an estimated $1.5 billion from about 7 million donors.

While that influx of cash was split among nearly 19,000 campaigns, a disproportionate amount has gone to the highest profile races. In just the first few days of the Harris campaign, for example, donors gave her $200 million through the platform, per ActBlue’s account on the social platform X.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4945458-paxton-seeks-fec-restrictions-actblue/