Screencap from a video posted in One Nation’s Youtube feed.

One Nation, a “dark money” group that primarily backs Senate Republicans, saw its revenue spike last year ahead of 2018 midterm elections where the GOP picked up two seats in the upper chamber.

The conservative 501(c)(4) nonprofit hauled in $58 million last year — more than triple the $17 million it received in 2017, new tax returns obtained by OpenSecrets show. The group was bolstered by a $10 million contribution from a single anonymous donor.

Masterminded by former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, One Nation launched in 2015 and effectively replaced the once-dominant Crossroads GPS. One Nation spent more than it raised in 2018, totaling $64.1 million, as it funneled money to other conservative groups.

Last year, One Nation gave $18.6 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, a GOP-allied super PAC that shares staff and offices with the nonprofit. The super PAC spent $95 million to back Senate Republicans ahead of the midterms, shelling out more than $20 million in ads attacking then-Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) alone. That’s after One Nation laid the groundwork earlier in the year and in 2017 with ads hammering McCaskill’s record and boosting her successful Republican challenger.

One Nation is already targeting 2020 Senate races, running ads to support vulnerable Sens. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Susan Collins (R-Maine). One Nation is applauding Ernst over her bill to end the electric vehicle tax credit, claiming the tax break “subsidizes wealthy car buyers but hurts farmers and jobs.” In Maine, One Nation’s ads portray Collins as a fighter for those with diabetes and promote her bill to reduce insulin prices.

Meanwhile, liberal dark money groups have been hammering Ernst and Collins with their own ads attacking their records on healthcare. The amount spent by dark money groups on these “issue ads” — which don’t directly advocate for or against the senators’ elections — is not required to be reported to the Federal Election Commission unless an election is near.

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One Nation has shelled out nearly $2.6 million on Google and Facebook ads since the platforms began tracking political ads in May 2018. Among its ads aired this year are those attacking Medicare for All, the healthcare proposal championed by some 2020 Democrats.

As a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, One Nation is not required to disclose its donors’ identities. Tax returns from the American Petroleum Institute reveal that the trade group gave $50,000 to One Nation last year, but the vast majority of its funding remains a mystery.

Another $5.4 million came from Crossroads GPS, which raised $7 million last year according to tax filings. That’s an uptick from the meager $75,000 Crossroads GPS raised in 2017, but the group still appears to be just an arm of the larger One Nation at this point.

One Nation gave out a total of $3.8 million in grants to other conservative nonprofits, including anti-abortion groups such as Susan B. Anthony List and National Right to Life, last year. Pushing for more restrictive abortion laws across the states, both groups spent millions of dollars to influence state legislatures and drafted model legislation for anti-abortion lawmakers to follow, the Center for Public Integrity reported. Susan B. Anthony List, which received $1.6 million, has become more active on the federal level, spending $2.4 million during the 2018 midterms to back congressional Republicans.

The Rove-linked dark money group also gave $250,000 to Citizens for a Working America, a little-known dark money group based in Virginia. The group has been an active donor to several super PACs in recent years, bankrolling several groups that launched multimillion-dollar ad campaigns in federal and state elections. Some of the groups, such as Hometown Freedom Action Network, are closely tied to the dark money group.

One Nation itself also funded groups running expensive ad campaigns in competitive races. It coughed up $1 million to American Economic Freedom Alliance, a D.C.-based dark money group that spent more than $330,000 running ads in Indiana boosting former Rep. Luke Messer’s (R-Ind.) failed Senate bid last year. The alliance also gave $600,000 to pro-Messer super PAC Hoosiers for Conservative Values, records show.



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