A campaign sign in Annapolis for former U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn. File photo by Josh Kurtz.
Political action committees controlled by Del. Adrian Boafo (D-Prince George’s) and former U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn joined forces with a third PAC in the final days of this year’s election to contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars to Dan Osborn, the independent U.S. Senate candidate in Nebraska who came close to ousting the heavily favored Republican incumbent.
In all, Boafo’s PAC, GenBlue, raised more than $620,000 since launching in early September, the lawmaker told Maryland Matters Wednesday. Dunn’s PAC, known as Dunn’s Democracy Defenders, has already raised and distributed several hundred thousand dollars to candidates since the former Jan. 6 hero cop lost a congressional bid in Maryland earlier this year.
The full extent of the duo’s collaboration, along with their work with a third Democratic fundraising entity called the Blue Battleground Project PAC, won’t be fully known until new Federal Election Commission reports on late October and November financial activities are released later this fall. A spokesperson for Dunn said Thursday his PAC contributed $40,000 to Boafo’s PAC in the final days of the campaign, which was then sent to Osborn’s campaign.
“In order to fix our politics and elect people that will actually reform our system, we need to be innovative and fight back hard,” Dunn said in a statement. “That’s why I’m proud of this strategy we developed in partnership with Adrian Boafo, raising critical funds directly to reformers like Dan Osborn.”
Boafo, a first-term state delegate and rising star in state politics, said he created the GenBlue PAC to help elect younger progressive Democrats to Congress, particularly candidates of color, women and those from immigrant families.
Of the 10 candidates the PAC endorsed, six won, including Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (D) in her bid for U.S. Senate. The other winners: U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D), who won Michigan’s open Senate seat; Yassamin Ansari (D), a former Phoenix City Council member who won an open House seat in Arizona; attorney Shomari Figures (D), who won a newly drawn seat in Alabama’s 2nd District; U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes (D), who was reelected in Ohio’s 13th District; and Eugene Vindman (D), a retired Army colonel and former National Security Council official, who won the open seat in Virginia’s 7th District.
Another candidate endorsed by Boafo’s PAC, U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D), is likely to win Arizona’s open Senate seat when the vote count is completed. Boafo-endorsed Will Rollins (D), a former federal prosecutor who challenged veteran U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), is in a race that hasn’t been called.
“Tuesday’s election results will not deter us from our pursuit of a better future for all Americans,” Boafo said in a statement. “I share in the disappointment felt by so many, but I urge my fellow Marylanders to find inspiration in the historic victories of young leaders in the House of Representatives and United States Senate.”
Dunn, meanwhile, has made the preservation of democracy a key part of his political work since he was runner-up in the 3rd District Democratic primary to state Sen. Sarah K. Elfreth (D-Anne Arundel) — who won the congressional seat Tuesday. Dunn has used the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, where he battled insurrectionists, and his growing antipathy for big money in politics — a pro-Israel super PAC spent more than $5 million to boost Elfreth in the primary — as the basis for his efforts.
Both Boafo and Dunn’s PACs sent money directly to Osborn, a former labor organizer, so he could buy ads for the final days of the campaign. TV ad rates for candidates are considerably lower than the rates political committees pay.
“Instead of relying on big money to spend and blanket the airwaves, we are flipping the script and using these resources to raise directly towards pro-democracy candidates, allowing them the ability to shape their narratives, tell their stories, and meet voters where they are,” Dunn said.