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Some deep-pocketed conservative super PACs are doing their damnedest to prevent one of the most tainted Republican candidates in recent memory from completing his comeback bid for the House, as North Carolina journalist Bryan Anderson reports.
An outfit called America Leads Action has so far spent more than $1.5 million to hammer pastor Mark Harris, whose previous campaign for Congress in 2018 ended in ignominy after one of his consultants masterminded a widespread conspiracy to win the election through absentee ballot fraud. Harris is competing in the March 5 primary for North Carolina’s 8th District, which favored Donald Trump 58-41 in 2020.
America Leads doesn’t appear to have posted any of its ads (and its website is as bare-bones as humanly possible), but according to the Charlotte Observer’s Paige Masten, one of its spots focuses on Harris’ attempted election heist.
That scandal led to the results of the election getting tossed out and required a special election that Harris’ fellow Republicans went out of their way to keep him out of. (Republican Dan Bishop, who is now running for attorney general, prevailed in that contest.) Harris, though, now says that the election should never have been scrapped, despite calling for a do-over at the time.
It’s not clear what the PAC’s beef with Harris is—thanks to the GOP’s latest gerrymander, even a candidate as damaged as he is would struggle to lose a general election—but new fundraising reports shed some light on who’s behind the effort to nuke him.
The group’s top donor is wealthy North Carolina businessman Jay Faison, who’s donated heavily to conservative causes and has given almost $2.5 million to America Leads. Not far behind with a $2 million donation is Rob Walton, one of the heirs to the Walmart fortune and one of the richest people in the world.
A second PAC, Conservatives for American Excellence, has only spent about $100,000 so far, though it’s been more active in other contests. Hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin, another major GOP donor, is one of the outfit’s biggest supporters, cutting a $3 million check just last month. Again, we don’t know why Griffin et al. would want to kneecap Harris, though it’s worth noting that Faison also gave the PAC $100,000 last year.
Harris faces five fellow Republicans next month, and two of them―state Rep. John Bradford and former Union County Commissioner Allan Baucom―have significantly more money available than the rest of the field thanks in large part to self-funding. Harris, though, has the backing of Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who is the favorite to secure the GOP nomination for governor. Candidates need to win more than 30% of the vote to avoid a May 14 runoff, though a second round of voting would only happen if the runner-up requests it.
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