Democratic donors are supporting far-right candidates, including a Wisconsin gun activist in the Senate race

WASHINGTON— David Steinglass, a wealthy donor, has supported numerous Democrats running for office and describes himself as a transgender rights activist.

That’s why his donation earlier this year to a far-right candidate in Wisconsin’s U.S. Senate race seemed completely out of character. He donated the maximum amount of $3,300 to put a man on the ballot who had the following in his background: He was being investigated in connection with the plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, he is a Gun rights activist and he has called for banning some gender-based themes. Confirmation of the treatment of minors.

The donation is by no means an anomaly, but rather part of a larger project. Steinglass’ donation to America First candidate Thomas Leager and thousands of other donations he and his wife have given to other far-right independents in key congressional races support a plan to strengthen Democrats and siphon votes from Republicans, like one Associated Press investigation found.

As the election cycle enters its urgent final five weeks, both Democrats and Republicans are employing questionable tactics that threaten to undermine the democratic process by attempting to manipulate the ballot through fraudulent means.

“Whether it’s congressional or presidential elections, this type of activity is a real problem and undermines the functioning of democracy,” said Edward B. Foley, a law professor who directs Ohio State University’s election law program.

Leager told the AP that he was recruited to the leadership last year by activists who said they were affiliated with the Patriots Run Project. This group presented itself as a pro-Trump grassroots movement that attacked both parties and urged conservatives to run for office as independents. The AP found that the group was backed by Democratic firms and donors who worked to install several independent pro-Trump candidates in key House races. Most of them were disabled, retired, or both.

Records show that Democrats have donated tens of thousands of dollars to give far-right candidates access to ballots. Supporters include Steinglass and his wife, Liz, who have donated more than $5 million to support Democratic political groups, as well as others who have donated and worked for Democratic candidates.

Although the strategy hasn’t always worked, Leager is among the candidates who qualified for the Nov. 5 vote and could complicate Republican efforts to retake the Senate. He is running as a right-wing alternative to GOP candidate Eric Hovde, who is challenging two-term Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin.

The AP’s findings sparked a criminal investigation in Iowa and prompted a conservative group to file a lawsuit with the Federal Election Commission alleging it violated political disclosure laws.

The Patriots Run Project came under scrutiny after the AP reported that one of its candidates in a House race in Iowa last month had his name removed from the ballot because he suspected he had been cheated.

The man, Joe Wiederien, who is impaired after a stroke, said an agent with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation visited him last week and he filed a complaint of voter fraud.

“Whoever it is, I think the project will fail sooner or later,” said Wiederien, who was recruited among several to search the group’s network of now-closed Facebook pages.

The Patriots Run Project is not a registered business, nonprofit organization, or political committee. After AP’s report last month, the group went even further underground, suspending its account on X, formerly Twitter, and websites. More than 10 donors and advisers supporting his efforts did not return messages.

Liz Steinglass declined comment when a reporter visited her at the family home in Washington, DC. Her husband, a retired private equity fund manager, did not respond to a message. The couple donated at least $9,900 to three candidates who said they were recruited by the Patriots Run Project, records show.

When a Patriots Run Project employee called him last summer and urged him to vote in the Wisconsin Senate race, Leager said he told the group that he was a controversial candidate because of his connection to some of the men indicted in the 2020 conspiracy His candidate would kidnap Whitmer. He was not among several defendants charged in state and federal courts, and he said he never discussed plans to kidnap them. Court documents show he was listed alongside 16 others by the Michigan Attorney General’s Office as an unindicted co-conspirator.

Still, the Patriots Run Project arranged about $20,000 in donations from Democratic donors to collect the signatures needed to get on the ballot, which went to a firm that typically works for Democrats.

Leager was subpoenaed to testify at a 2022 trial of four defendants and exercised his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination after a judge found he was legally exposed. A prosecutor said at that hearing that Leager was “under investigation for a similar conspiracy against another politician,” that he had encouraged violence against the FBI on his podcast and that he had urged armed protesters to show up at a courthouse to intimidate jurors. Leager has denied supporting violence.

Leager is the former executive director of Wisconsin Gun Owners Inc., which takes a maximalist position on the Second Amendment. In 2020, he organized protests for ReOpen Wisconsin, which included armed demonstrations against government shutdowns and orders to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Through his activism, he met Stephen Robeson, with whom he later broke up after correctly suspecting he was an FBI informant. Leager attended a field exercise in Cambria, Wisconsin, where investigators reportedly discussed the idea of ​​attacking government officials.

Leager said he was an associate of alleged kidnapping plotter Barry Croft, who is serving a long prison sentence. Croft argues he was trapped by government informants and is demanding a new trial.

“In the Whitmer case, I was the FBI’s Wisconsin target. We just slipped through their net,” Leager said in March on “The Free Men Report,” a show he streams on Rumble.

Leager said an agent who called himself “Johnny Shearer” told him the Patriots Run Project had seen his work and that he was exactly the type of candidate they wanted, saying the group was impressed “that I matched that.” “I didn’t give in to pressure from the government.”

Six donors gave Leaguer the maximum donation of $3,300. In addition to David Steinglass, they include Wyoming venture capitalist Richard Thompson and political consultant Joe Fox, a veteran of Democratic campaigns and the House Majority PAC, the Democrats’ super PAC in Congress.

Leager said her money was paid for the signature collection efforts by Urban Media LLC, a Milwaukee firm that normally works for Democrats and has worked for Vice President Kamala Harris and Baldwin.

Records show the Steinglass family, Fox and Thompson also donated to independent conservative candidates Robert Reid and Thomas Bowman in the House elections in Virginia and Minnesota.

A small network of Democratic donors also supported the three candidates as well as Vann Whitley, who unsuccessfully sought ballot access as a Libertarian in a Colorado House election.

Leager said he was “a little suspicious” of the group’s motives, but ultimately didn’t care. “I thought, ‘If this gets me on the ballot, that’s the main point.’ I wanted to get in the game,” he said.

Leager said the Patriots Run Project had no further “real impact” on his campaign, but he was angry about being misled.

Hovde has publicly claimed that Leager is a “Democrat factory” designed to take votes away from him.

Baldwin’s campaign said it played no role in putting Leager on the ballot.

Leager rejected the claim that he was only hurting Hovde and said he expected to get votes from both sides.

“They’re trying to say I’m some kind of Democratic operative, which is silly because I’m more conservative than Hovde,” he said.

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Foley reported from Iowa City, Iowa. AP News Researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report.