More than $6 million of ads have aired in Kentucky’s surprisingly competitive 6th Congressional District race, which new Federal Election Commission reports show were mostly purchased by PACs bankrolled by billionaires and dark money groups that do not have to disclose their donors.
The central Kentucky district has been in Republican hands for 14 years and grown more conservative through partisan gerrymandering. Voters in the 2024 election chose President Donald Trump by 15 percentage points and reelected GOP Rep. Andy Barr by nearly double that margin.
However, polling and prognosticators have signaled that Democrat Zach Dembo has a real chance of upsetting Republican Ralph Alvarado in the open seat — as evidenced by both sides spending an enormous sum in a midterm election that could flip the balance of power in the U.S. House.
As of this week, Alvarado has the slight edge on ad spending, as five PACs have reported spending a combined $2.6 million supporting him in the general election. Nearly all of that spending has come from a new PAC called No Going Back, which has reportedly spent $160 million so far on GOP federal candidates across the country since forming last month.
No Going Back does not have to file its first FEC fundraising report until next week, but is reportedly bankrolled by MAGA Inc., Trump’s largest super PAC that has raised $424 million over the last two years — including tens of millions from cryptocurrency companies, dark money groups and the co-founder of OpenAI.
The PAC ad spending supporting Dembo is not far behind that of Alvarado, as six groups have reported spending nearly $2.3 million on his behalf since this summer. This includes $1.6 million of ads from the new Dembo-centric PAC Kentuckians Not Corruption and $500,000 of ads purchased by In This Together, the super PAC of Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.
Also reserving $670,000 of TV ad time in the district starting next week is House Majority PAC — the mostly dark money-funded PAC of Democratic House leadership — though the ads have not yet been officially purchased.
A smaller amount of TV ads have been purchased directly by each candidate’s campaign, or in coordination with party committees. According to political consulting firm Medium Buying, Dembo’s campaign and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee have combined to spend $933,972 on such ads, whereas Alvarado and the Republican Party of Kentucky have spent half of that total.
Dembo’s advantage in campaign ad spending — more than double that of Alvarado’s campaign — is reflected in their new FEC reports filed Thursday. Dembo’s campaign raised $1.4 million in the past three months — nearly surpassing what he had raised in the previous calendar year — which was more than double the $666,000 raised by Alvarado in the past quarter.
Crypto and AI billionaires fund groups spending for Alvarado
The $2.4 million of ads purchased by No Going Back started out with positive messaging about Alvarado, but have increasingly turned negative against Dembo.
The PAC ads have hit Dembo for opposing Trump tax cuts and taking contributions from health care executives whose companies have been fined for fraud, as well as false claims that he supports “full amnesty for illegal immigrants, giving them welfare, healthcare and more.”
The Trump-backed MAGA Inc. PAC reportedly funding No Going Back had raised nearly half a billion dollars by September. Its top funder with $30 million of contributions is cryptocurrency company Foris Dax, while fellow crypto giant Gemini Trust Company and its Winklevoss twin founders pitched in more than $45 million.
Other top funders include OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman and his wife ($25 million), casino magnate Miriam Adelson ($25 million), dark money group Securing American Greatness ($21 million), and Pennsylvania billionaire investor Jeff Yass ($16 million).
The second largest spender on PAC ads for Alvarado is Civic Renewal Fund, which has reported spending $83,000 on mailed and print ads. The PAC is spending on races all over the country, mostly funded by $5 million checks from hedge fund manager Thomas Klingenstein and dark money-funded Choose Freedom PAC.
Others spending smaller amounts on pro-Alvarado text message ads include Americans Ready to Work PAC ($48,500) and Save American Freedom ($20,000), which is funded by the dark money group of GOP House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who recently attended an Alvarado fundraiser in Kentucky.
Beshear, LinkedIn founder, dark money fund pro-Dembo PAC ads
Kentuckians Not Corruption was formed in August and has only spent funds on Dembo’s race, with a mix of positive ads and ones attacking Alvarado's record in public office.
The PAC’s ads have tried to tie Alvarado to Medicaid and education cuts proposed by former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, his 2019 running mate, and accused him of taking contributions from healthcare companies and then pushing legislation to make suing negligent companies more difficult.
The PAC reported raising $1.2 million in August and September, but has already reported spending $1.6 million on ads through this week.
The top two funders of Kentuckians Not Corruption are billionaire LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman and the mostly dark money-funded Government That Works PAC, who both contributed $500,000. Government That Works has also poured millions of dollars into Senate races across the country to help Democratic candidates, including Texas, Maine, Michigan and Iowa.
The Alvarado campaign attacked Dembo Friday by highlighting that Hoffman had ties to notorious convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, as the release of the Epstein files show he was a guest on his private island and Manhattan townhouse. Alvarado was also the beneficiary of ad spending by PACs that were funded by people linked in the Epstein files, such as Elon Musk and Trump, whose endorsement Alvarado trumpeted in his Republican primary campaign.
The National Education Association, the largest teachers union in the country, also gave the Kentuckians Not Corruption PAC $100,000, while the top two Kentucky donors giving $25,000 each were Louisville philanthropists Christy Brown and Mary Gwen Wheeler.
Also spending $500,000 on ads in support of Dembo was In This Together, the super PAC of Beshear. The top funder of the governor’s PAC is Ashish Patel, a self-described investor and business owner from Pennsylvania who has not disclosed what business or industry he works in. Patel gave another $150,000 to Beshear’s PAC in August, bringing his total contributions to $1 million.
Other top donors to In This Together include Andrew Schwartzberg — a real estate developer who focuses on affordable housing and owns parts of the Charlotte Hornets, San Francisco 49ers and the Leeds United Football Club — and Deborah Simon, an heir of a billionaire shopping mall developer whose family partly owns the Indiana Pacers NBA franchise. They have both contributed at least half a million dollars to Beshear’s PAC.
Also spending $200,000 on digital advertisements for Dembo — a Navy veteran — is VoteVets, a PAC that supports Democratic military veterans running for public office.
The general election is on Nov. 3, in 15 days.
Editor's note: The OpenAI Foundation included Louisville Public Media among its most recent grant recipients. LPM also receives major donor support from Christy Brown and Mary Gwen Wheeler. In accordance with our ethics policy, funding has no influence on our editorial decisions.
