Protect Our Care "Dark Money" Spending Protected Sharice Davids in 2022 Primary
$368K spent on 560 TV ads in KC area shored up support for Davids before KS-03 general election
The large number of “Protect Our Care” TV ads before the August primary were curious since Congresswoman Sharice Davids was unopposed and won with 100% of the vote.
TV Ads in Kansas City Area
TV stations in the KC area broadcast 560 thirty-second “spots” from April through June 2022 to bolster Sharice Davids for Congress in the third congressional district in Kansas.
Technical details about these ads can be found in 88 PDF files, which are described in a companion article, Exploring "Dark Money" in FCC Public Inspection Files.
Targeting
The target for most of the batches of ads was women 35 years old or older.
One batch of KMBC ads targeted “Adults 25-54” and one batch or WDAF ads targeted “Adults 35+”.
Transparency
KMBC and affiliate KCWE provided the most complete transparency. They always provided clearly-labeled documentation with a National Association of Broadcasters agreement form, along with related contract and invoices for each of five batches of ads.
WDAF Fox 4 provided a single agreement with separate contract and invoices for each of six batches of ads. For some reason invoices appeared to be duplicated in two files with different names, so care had to be taken to not double count the same ads.
KSHB perhaps was the most efficient in reporting with a single disclosure and agreement document, followed by six order documents.
KCTV was the most terse in identifying the agency and advertiser, and did not provide street addresses or phone numbers. Only a single “order printout” identified the ad connection to “KS-03/DAVIDS”. Better file naming conventions would make KCTV’s files easier to interpret.
The invoice files provided information about the particular program and time the ads were run. For example, some of the ads targeted women watching “The View” on KMBC.
Source of Funding
KCTV identified the advertiser as “Protect Our Care.” Others stations provided street address and suite number, phone number and contact person.
The Protect Our Care web site explains the two related organizations:
Protect Our Care operates as a 501(c)(4) social welfare nonprofit
Our sister organization, the Protect Our Care Education Fund, operates as a 501 (c)(3) public charity that educates the public, the media and elected officials about health care issues.
DC business records show “Protect Our Care” is one of 60 trade names of the Sixteen Thirty Fund.
The website for Protect our Care Education Fund admits the relationship with the New Venture Fund:
The Protect Our Care Education Fund is fiscally sponsored by the New Venture Fund (NVF), a 501(c)(3) public charity.
All TV stations gave the name of the advertiser as “Protect Our Care” but the street address with suite number, phone number and contact person only match
”Protect Our Care Education Fund.” See details in companion article.
So, the exact source of the funds is not known with certainty. Were the ad funds from a 501(c)(3) or a 501(c)(4)?
Related
The Massive Progressive Dark-Money Group You’ve Never Heard Of, The Atlantic, Emma Green, Nov. 2, 2021.
Over the past half decade, Democrats have quietly pulled ahead of Republicans in untraceable political spending. One group helped make it happen.
Reports on Arabella Advisors, Capital Research Center.
