Progressive Donors Rally to Reignite, Speed Up ‘Shadow Campaign’ in 2024

People vote on election day in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Nov. 8, 2022. Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

The 2024 “shadow campaign” is off and running. The Tides Foundation, a progressive nonprofit organization, announced on April 30 that it would move $200 million to nonprofit groups to mobilize voters, particularly “among communities of color, young people, and under-resourced communities.”

The foundation, a self-described “organization dedicated to advancing social justice,” is part of the All by April campaign organized by the Democracy Fund and bankrolled by some of the biggest financiers of left-wing politics in the United States.

In early 2021, an article in Time magazine detailed a “shadow campaign“ run by a ”well-funded cabal of powerful people” to ostensibly protect the outcome of the 2020 election. That campaign kept on running even after the 2020 election, funding efforts to rewrite election rules, privatize the funding of local elections, and encourage likely Democratic voters to cast ballots in person or by mail.

Robert Stilson, a senior research analyst at the Capital Research Center, said many of the parties involved in the so-called shadow campaign are part of the All by April pledge.

According to Mr. Stilson, the new campaign is markedly similar to the 2020 one. Namely, it directs 501(c)(3) dollars toward election-related activities.

“This is the same sort of thing that major left-of-center grantmakers have been doing for 20 years,” Mr. Stilson told The Epoch Times.

In an undated open letter published on its website, All by April said its purpose is to ensure that money is distributed well ahead of the 2024 elections. So-called pro-democracy nonprofit organizations consistently complain the “money came too late” for it to be fully effective in “[connecting] voters to the ballot and [helping] protect the integrity of our election system.”

“Move election funds faster wherever possible and encourage your networks to do the same,” the letter instructed donors. “Our grantees and our democracy will be stronger for it.”

To date, none of the documents released by All by April or Democracy Fund indicates which groups will ultimately get money or how much money is being handed out.

Mr. Stilson, who tracks the activities of left-wing donor networks, said their structure makes it nearly impossible to tell where exactly the money will wind up. However, the groups committed to the All by April campaign collectively “control billions upon billions of dollars.”

Both All by April and Democracy Fund are 501 nonprofit organizations. Under the law, these groups are considered charitable and social benefit organizations.

Nonprofit 501 groups are not required to disclose their donors nor how much their benefactors are providing them. They can, and often do, perform overtly political activities and send money directly to federally regulated political action committees. Because of this, 501s are frequently called dark money groups.

All by April and the Democracy Fund are 501(c)(3) groups and are prevented by law from engaging in certain overt political behavior.

As of April, progressive organizations pledged to pay nearly $800 million in 2024 to boost President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party.

Neither All by April nor Democracy Fund immediately responded to a request for comment.

According to Capital Research Center studies, left-wing 501 groups are far better financed and spend much more money than their right-wing counterparts.

As what are meant to be charitable dollars continue to flow into overtly political organizations, Mr. Stilson said he is concerned about the legitimacy of philanthropic activity in the United States overall.

After delivering a speech, George Soros answers questions on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on May 24, 2022. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images

Soros and Arabella

As of May 1, more than 172 parties signed the commitment to put their dollars to use in the 2024 election as soon as possible.

Both George Soros’s Open Society Foundations and Arabella Advisors are All by April signatories.

Open Society Foundations, founded by Democratic Party megadonor Mr. Soros and chaired by his son Alexander Soros, describes itself as “the world’s largest private funder of independent groups working for justice, democratic governance, and human rights.”

Groups linked to the Soros family are already using millions of dollars on the 2024 federal races and have millions more to spend.

Arabella Advisors and one of its most politically active allies, New Venture Fund, also signed the pledge. Arabella Advisors manages the 501(c)(3) New Venture Fund.

The Epoch Times previously reported that Arabella Advisors and several nonprofits tied to the company are among the most powerful and politically active forces in left-wing politics. In 2020, groups associated with Arabella sent about $218 million to groups directly involved in efforts against former President Donald Trump and other Republican candidates.

Last month, the Capital Research Center published an analysis of Arabella’s main funders between 2019 and 2022. The list includes Bill Gates’s Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ford family’s Ford Foundation, various accounts tied to the Rockefeller family, and the Hewlett family’s William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

Representatives of Arabella Advisors and Open Society Foundations did not immediately respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment.

Targeting Swing States

Although little is currently known about where the money will go in 2024, the Tides Foundation—a 501(c)(3) nonprofit—offered some clues.

According to its most recent tax filing, Tides had about $894.2 million in net assets at the end of 2022. The group is linked to three other groups: Tides Center, Tides Advocacy, and Tides Network. Those funds collectively held about $409.8 million at the end of 2022, according to their tax records.

In 2024, Tides will be “prioritizing funding community organizers in states where there are increasing numbers of people of color, youth, and communities facing barriers to exercising their democratic voice.”

This includes a focus on the battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. It will also spend in reliably Democratic states such as California and New York.

Tides declined to comment on the All by April campaign, instead directing questions to Democracy Alliance.

A Black Lives Matter protest in Yucaipa, Calif., on Aug. 1, 2020. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

Banning Private Election Funding

It remains unclear how the groups committed to the All by April pledge will deal with an increasing number of bans designed to limit the ability of private groups to finance public election activities.

In 2020, the Center for Tech and Civic Life sent out more than $400 million to pay for new polling locations, ballot drop boxes, so-called voter education centers, and campaigns to reach non-English-speaking voters. The funds were distributed disproportionately to Democrat-leaning areas.

Since then, 23 states have passed measures limiting the ability of private groups to finance elections. Wisconsin joined the group in April.

Although these practices are not prohibited on a national level, some Republicans on Capitol Hill are calling for a federal ban.