Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

Ahead of the critical Nevada caucuses Saturday, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) are being backed by super PACs for the first time. And those groups aren’t required to disclose their donors until long after votes are counted in The Silver State.

Warren, who has railed against super PACs as part of her campaign’s anti-corruption message, will be backed by an ad buy of more than $1 million in Nevada from a brand new group called Persist PAC. Led by progressive political consultants, the super PAC’s first ad champions Warren’s work to take on Wall Street. The unexpected boost comes after Warren’s dismal fourth-place finish in New Hampshire, and after Warren urged her Democratic opponents to “say no to the PACs” on the debate stage.

Kitchen Table Conversations is the super PAC boosting Klobuchar. Led by Minnesota Democratic fundraisers, the group has spent $1.1 million on TV ads in Nevada and South Carolina. Its ads portray Klobuchar as a problem solver who can work across the aisle.

Nevada caucusgoers will not know who is funding these super PACs. The Federal Election Commission does not require groups to file pre-election reports before caucuses. As most super PACs influencing presidential races file on a monthly basis, the groups likely won’t disclose their donors until after Super Tuesday in mid-March. Persist PAC’s spokesperson declined to identify the group’s funders in an interview with Axios.

The New York Times reported that EMILY’s List, the liberal group that helps elect pro-choice women, contributed $250,000 to each of the super PACs.

As the two groups ready six-figure ad buys in Nevada, each of the top 2020 Democrats are now backed by outside groups that they initially rebuffed. By the letter of the law, candidates cannot coordinate with these independent groups and thus are powerless to stop them from spending. But many candidates are closely tied to super PACs supporting them.

Former Vice President Joe Biden launched his White House bid rejecting super PACs but publicly dropped his opposition to them amid money troubles last year. Shortly after Biden sent out that signal, a super PAC staffed by Biden allies began running ads to boost the Delaware Democrat in early primary states. Unite the Country has spent nearly $6.5 million backing Biden.

Help us keep government accountable by making a donation today.

Former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg is bolstered by $1.7 million in independent expenditures from the super PAC VoteVets. The Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint against the Buttigieg campaign after a staffer appeared to give VoteVets a signal to run pro-Buttigieg ads in Nevada in a Twitter post. The FEC currently can’t hold meetings to vote on complaints, and even when the commission did have a quorum it did not enforce coordination rules.

Warren lambasted Biden and Buttigieg for those super PACs on the debate stage in New Hampshire, arguing that the only way to reject big money interests was to reject super PACs.

“Everyone on this stage except Amy and me is either a billionaire or is receiving help from PACs that can do unlimited spending,” she said.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is backed by a number of smaller progressive outside groups, including a super PAC supported by the largest registered nurse union. He’s also opposed by a super PAC bankrolled by wealthy donors.

Meanwhile, billionairess Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer — both of whom have given generously to super PACs in the past — don’t need the help of outside groups as they smash self-funding records. Bloomberg, who has spent an unprecedented $400 million on ads alone, is rising rapidly in national polls.

Update 2/19/20: Added reporting that EMILY’s List gave $250,000 to each of the super PACs. Story was updated to include $1.1 million ad buy from pro-Klobuchar group.



For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit the Center for Responsive Politics.For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: [email protected]





Support Accountability Journalism At OpenSecrets.org we offer in-depth, money-in-politics stories in the public interest. Whether you’re reading about 2020 presidential fundraising, conflicts of interest or “dark money” influence, we produce this content with a small, but dedicated team. Every donation we receive from users like you goes directly into promoting high-quality data analysis and investigative journalism that you can trust.Please support our work and keep this resource free. Thank you. Support OpenSecrets ➜