Is largest Kansas PAC "Middle of the Road"?
Is largest Kansas PAC "Middle of the Road"?
Gov. Laura Kelly's PAC is a war chest of $935,000 for the general election
Election misinformation and disinformation are a problem every election year. So, what’s in the name “Middle of the Road” PAC promoted by Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly?
Kelly claims this PAC is “to elect moderate, middle-of-the-road leaders who are laser-focused on supporting policies to improve the lives of all Kansans.”
Gov. Kelly’s does not understand her progressive views are not shared by everyone, and likely not even a majority.
Kelly’s progressive policies are left, far-left, or progressive to many. Kelly narrowly was re-elected in 2022 only with the independent expenditures of nearly $20 million in dark money through a nonprofit, which is not well-known.
Gov. Kelly fully understands the words “Middle of the Road” will cause confusion and will be misinformation for many.
Kelly is intolerant of those who challenge her views. The expenditures section below reveals how Kelly in the primary election recently “took out” two of her fellow Democrats who challenged her policies.
Technically, Gov. Kelly does not “own” this PAC. Her name does not appear on official PAC documents.
But Gov. Kelly has direct or indirect connections to those spending the PAC money, which will be shown below.
Recent PAC Report
Kansas PACs were required to file “Receipts and Expenditures” reports on July 29, prior to the Aug. primary election. An earlier Watchdog article rank ordered 171 Kansas PACs on money raised, spent and in the bank.
The Middle of the Road PAC was #1 in money raised ($287,825) and #1 in money in the bank ($935,162). Its third place rank in money spent ($243,271) before the primary still resulted in an overall #1 ranking for this PAC statewide.
Let’s review the donors from the Jan. 2024 and July 2024 reports, and then explore its expenditures.
Major “Middle of the Road” Donors
This PAC’s Statement of Organization shows former three-term Kansas State Rep Sheryl Spalding is the PAC chair and treasurer.
Ballotpedia reveals Spalding was the former president of the Blue Valley Board of Education in Johnson County.
Ballotpedia says Spalding refused in 2008 to take the Project Vote Smart’s “Political Courage Test,” which asked candidates: "Are you willing to tell citizens your positions on the issues you will most likely face on their behalf”?
Spalding’s name appears on all official reports, but Gov. Kelly’s name or “Team Kelly” has appeared on perhaps a dozen email solicitations for the PAC.
The diagram below shows the major PAC donors reported in the Jan. or July PAC reports.
$100,000. Jobs and Opportunity Super PAC, Washington, DC. In May 2024 the Democratic Governors Association (now headed by Laura Kelly) sent $275,000 to Jobs and Opportunity. Two months later Jobs and Opportunity sent $100,000 to Kelly’s Middle of the Road PAC.
$10,000. Cathy Matlack, Leawood, KS. Board member of Mainstream Coalition in 2022. Contributed $5,000 to Kansas Democratic Party in 2024.
$10,000. Kansas National Education Association PAC, Topeka, KS. [“Last minute” donation reported on Aug. 1.] At the national level NEA gives almost exclusively to Democrats.
$250,000. J. B. Pritzker, Illinois. Democratic Governor. Member of the wealthy Pritzker family that owns the Hyatt hotel chain.
$132,000. Democratic Action PAC, Washington, DC. Democratic Governors Association runs ads as “Democratic Action.” Laura Kelly is now the chair of DGA.
$52,000. Kansas Values Institute, Lawrence, KS. KVI spent $23 million in 2022 to help elect Gov. Laura Kelly, who won with a margin of about 22,000 votes.
$45,000. IBEW PAC Educational Fund, Washington. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union is a significant donor to Democratic causes.
$40,000. UFCW International Union. United Food & Commercial Workers only gives to Democratic causes according to Open Secrets.
Recipients of Major Expenditures
The diagram below is a bit complicated about expenditures by this PAC in its two reports this year.
Non-Consulting Expenditures
The green arrows in the diagram above show money spent by the PAC.
Let’s first look at the non-consulting expenditures at the left above — all have connections to the Democratic Party. Is that “middle of the road”?
Kansas Democratic Party. $5000 donation and contribution to Washington Days Sponsorship.
ActBlue. $3046 for fundraising expenses. From Wikipedia: ActBlue Charities Inc. is an American political action committee and fundraising platform established for serving left-leaning and Democratic nonprofits and politicians.
NGP VAN is the leading technology provider to Democratic and progressive political campaigns and organizations, nonprofits, municipalities, and other groups. $3475.
Waterfront Strategies received $32,801 to oppose Vic Miller in his bid for State Senate District 18 Democratic primary against Patrick Schmidt.
Apparently, Gov. Kelly was not tolerant of some independent views by Miller in the tax negotiations on the floor during the final session.
The PAC’s extra $32,802 expenditure played a part in Miller’s defeat on Aug. 6.
Mission Control received $8327 to support Wanda Brownlee Paige in a Democratic primary over incumbent Marvin S Robinson II, who opposed men participating in women’s sports.
This $8327 expenditure was nearly the same amount ($8669) spent by Brownlee Paige in her campaign, and likely play a part in Robinson’s defeat.
Consulting Expenditures
Two consultants providing “organizing services” received the “big bucks” from this PAC in monthly payments. It’s unclear what specifically “organizing services” are.
Will Lawrence received $75,000 according to the most recent report, which when added to the $30,000 reported in January, amounts to a total of $105,000. Gov. Kelly is Lawrence’s direct boss and should be quite familiar with all aspect of the PAC from that alone.
Linked-In identifies Will Lawrence as Gov. Kelly’s Chief of Staff.Lauren Fitzgerald received $57,000 in according to the most recent report, which when combined with previous earnings now total $82,700. Lauren is the managing director of Kansas Coalition for Common sense according to her Linked-In page. Fitzgerald was the Communications Director for Gov. Kelly in 2022.
It’s unclear why both consultants received three payments of equal amounts on Jan. 5, 2024. Will Lawrence received three $7500 payments that day that totaled $22,500, while Lauren Fitzgerald received three $6000 payments that day that totaled $18,000.
It’s unclear why the address for Lawrence and Fitzgerald (and a few others) is the same as the address of the PAC: PO Box 4504, Overland Park.
Kansas Coalition for Common Sense
A year ago I posted an item on X about a coincidence in the first few followers of the Middle of The Road PAC being from the Kansas Coalition for Common Sense.
But it was no coincidence. These three directors (All, Fitzgerald and Zeigler) of Kansas Coalition for Comment Sense had a plan for how they would be working with the “Middle of the Road” PAC to promote progressive causes in Kansas in 2024.
Ashley All, the president of the Kansas Coalition for Common Sense, also has past connections to Gov. Kelly. All also served as Kelly’s communications director.
The nonprofit articles of incorporation shown above indicates Jordanna Zeigler is a director of the KCFCS nonprofit, but is also the current political director for the Democratic Governors Association, now chaired by Gov. Kelly.
Zeigler’s work has impacted Kansas for a number of years:
Jordanna “Jordy” Zeigler, Political Director: Jordy Zeigler was previously the DGA’s Senior Campaigns Advisor serving as the organization’s lead political and strategic contact for winning campaigns in 2022, including in Kansas, Arizona, Oregon, New Mexico, Minnesota, Illinois, Colorado, and Hawaii. Prior to joining the DGA, Jordy managed Governor Laura Kelly’s historic 2018 win in Kansas and Theresa Greenfield’s record-breaking campaign for U.S. Senate in Iowa in 2020. Jordy has worked on campaigns of all levels all over the country for over fifteen years, including at EMILY’s List and the DCCC.
Nonprofit status
Most of the money surrounding this 501(c)(4) nonprofit will be “hidden” likely until late 2025 or possibly 2026 because of lax reporting requirements for IRS 990s.
For example, the IRS990 for the huge spending by the Kansas Values Institute nonprofit in 2022 was filed with the IRS in late 2023, but was only available early this year. But only about a fourth of the KVI donors have ever been discovered. [Only transfers from one non-profit to another can be discovered.]
The Kansas Coalition for Common Sense is the next chapter in the evolution of “Dark Money and Nonprofits in Kansas Politics.”
The electoral playing field is tilted and public views have been distorted by huge progressive spending in Kansas. See this hour long video for a background of what’s been happening in Kansas for much of the last decade because of dark money and nonprofits.
Related
Political Money Rankings of Kansas PACs, July 2024. Kansas PACs spent about $2.6 million so far this year. Watchdog Lab, Aug 5, 2024.
Kansas Democratic Party has 105,000 more females than males. Kansas Republican Party has 17,000 more males than females. Watchdog Lab, July 17, 2024.
Nonprofit Kansas Values Institute spent $23 million to help Gov. Laura Kelly and other candidates in 2022. KVI raised and spent more in 2022 than in the previous 11 years combined. Watchdog Lab, March 12, 2024.
Report shows "Middle of the Road PAC" is on the left side of the road. Two-thirds of donations in recent PAC report are from out-of-state. Illinois Governor is the largest donor to Gov. Kelly's PAC. Jan 18, 2024.
Gov. Laura Kelly Prefers Darkness in Open Records about 277,000 Voter Registration Forms in 2020. Redactions in open records hide information from the public. Sept. 12, 2022.