Revelations About Feingold PAC’s Spending Puts Candidate On Defensive

A proposal from U.S. Senate candidate Russ Feingold to keep outside money from flooding the airwaves in the 2016 election appears to have backfired: Information about how Feingold raised money for progressive candidates since he lost his seat in 2010 has put the former senator on the defensive.

According to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel report, Feingold’s PAC Progressives United spent only about 5 percent of what it raised to support candidates. Instead, it spent the bulk of its money to pay staff and cover overhead expenses.

The information gathered from the Federal Elections Commission has sidetracked Feingold’s effort to get incumbent Sen. Ron Johnson to sign a pledge designed to discourage outside groups from running ads in their race.

“Before Feingold worries about outside money, he needs to explain why he was hiding his political expenses in his own dark money group,” wrote Johnson campaign manager Betsy Ankney in an email.

A Feingold aide said the candidate is proud of the $2 million the PAC has raised for progressive candidates. In addition, Feingold’s campaign manager argued that the PAC was a new model that didn’t operate like most other similar groups formed “before the advent of email.” Instead of exclusively giving money to candidates, Progressives United organized like-minded voters and encouraged them to donate on their own.