An OpenSecrets analysis found a “dark money” group, Opportunity for All Action Fund, has poured almost $600,000 into primaries in New Jersey, Nevada and Illinois from May 17 to June 6, including $76,000 on Facebook ads.

On June 8, The Intercept reported on suspicious ties between Opportunity for All Action Fund and powerful Democrats. The money boosted three incumbents – Reps. Donald Payne Jr. (D–N.J.), Dina Titus (D–Nev.) and Danny Davis (D–Ill.) – who have faced or will face progressive challengers in June. Opportunity for All Action Fund also spent money against Frank Pallotta, who won the GOP primary in New Jersey’s 5th Congressional District on Tuesday. 

Opportunity for All Action Fund is not affiliated with Opportunity for All, a terminated super PAC, or other groups with a similar name.

In total, Opportunity for All Action Fund disclosed spending nearly $365,000 on digital advertising and production, $195,000 on direct mail and $34,000 on phone calls and texting in three states from May 17 to June 6.

The group launched its Facebook page on April 26, just weeks before it started posting ads. The Opportunity for All Action Fund Facebook page has ten followers and five likes as of June 13, but its Facebook ads have reached hundreds of thousands of users with appeals to vote for the three incumbents.

While groups running online ads that avoid advocating for an election outcome are not required to disclose their donors, Opportunity for All Action Fund’s Google and Facebook ads do expressly solicit votes for the incumbent Democrats. While Opportunity for All Action Fund has reported spending to the FEC, the dark money group does not disclose its donors.

When reached for comment, Ezra Reese of the Elias Law Group told OpenSecrets, “The Opportunity for All Action Fund follows all applicable FEC rules and regulations under advice of counsel.” An associate at Elias Law Group, Emma Sharkey, is listed as the incorporator of Opportunity for All Action Fund.

A recent FEC interim rule requires groups that are not political committees that spend on independent expenditures to disclose the identity of “each person who made a contribution in excess of $200″ that was “for the purpose of furthering an independent expenditure.” Three Republican FEC commissioners released a June 8 interpretive statement on the interim rule proffering that the identity of a donor would only need to be disclosed if their contribution “is designated or solicited for, or restricted to, activities or communications that expressly advocate the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate for federal office.” Opportunity for All Action Fund has made such independent expenditures without disclosing any donors.

Other dark money groups that are not registered political committees have previously avoided disclosure by claiming that their donors did not give for “political purposes” or for the purpose of furthering an independent expenditure. And dark money is pouring into the 2022 midterm elections without disclosure, as OpenSecrets previously reported.

Mr. Reese did not immediately comment on this interim rule and its implications for Opportunity for All Action Fund filing requirements.

Dark money without disclosure in online ads

Payne, one of the Opportunity for All Action Fund-backed incumbents, secured the Democratic nomination with 83% of the vote in New Jersey’s 10th Congressional District. He beat progressive organizer Imani Oakley and professor Akil Khalfani, who also ran for the House seat in 2020.

The dark money group dropped $20,000 on phone calls and texting, and $50,000 on digital advertising and production backing Payne. Facebook ads, each viewed by up to 400,000 users, explicitly ask constituents to vote for Payne. 

The ads also highlight Payne’s commitment to reproductive freedom, featuring language also used to boost Titus’ campaign in Nevada’s 1st Congressional District. The Cook Political Report rates Payne’s seat as solidly Democrat, while Titus’ seat is a Democratic toss-up.

The group has spent nearly $245,000 on digital ads and direct mail in Nevada, the most money it has poured into any state so far this cycle. Opportunity for All Action Fund spent over $28,000 on Facebook ads in Nevada highlighting Titus’ commitment to reproductive rights. These ads also explicitly ask constituents to vote for Titus. Titus is up against Amy Vilela, a former state co-chair for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I–Vt.) 2020 presidential campaign, in the June 14 primary. 

A Google ad, shown over 1.7 million times in southern Nevada since May 17, explicitly advocates for Titus in the state’s June 14 Democratic primary. Another Spanish-language ad, viewed over 80,000 times since June 7, also urged constituents to vote for Titus.

Opportunity for All Action Fund also poured over $125,000 in digital ads and production into Illinois’ 7th Congressional District, where gun violence prevention activist Kina Collins is challenging Davis, the incumbent moderate Democrat, on June 28. 

Through June 6th, Opportunity for All Action Fund only spent $4,100 on Facebook ads highlighting Davis’ commitment to voting rights, but each of those ads reached nearly 350,000 people.

Davis’ seat is also solidly Democrat, according to the Cook Political Report.