A super PAC calling itself “Progressive Champions PAC” is a Republican front group secretly working to influence a key New York Democratic primary, according to a new investigation by the newsletter Popular Information.
The group has reportedly spent $1.5 million on ads attacking Democratic congressional candidate Cait Conley in New York’s 17th District, where the June 23 primary is already underway.
“Republican dark money Super PACs are targeting me with false attacks because they know I’m the only candidate who will beat Mike Lawler in November,” Conley said in a statement to COURIER New York. “Mike Lawler and his MAGA allies are scared, and they should be.”
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) called the move a sign of desperation. “Desperate DC Republicans are so terrified Mike Lawler will lose in November that they’re resorting to meddling in yet another Democratic primary,” said DCCC spokesperson Riya Vashi. “It’s just the latest sign that Lawler knows he can’t win on his toxic record.”
Popular Information, an independent investigative newsletter run by journalist Judd Legum, found that Progressive Champions PAC is part of a network of sham “progressive” PACs secretly working to influence Democratic primaries across the country on behalf of House Republican leadership.
The evidence trail
The links between Progressive Champions PAC and the GOP are extensive. The PAC was created just five minutes apart from another Republican-linked sham group, “Real Change PAC,” which has meddled in Democratic primaries in Maine and New Jersey. Both PACs use Bryant Bank—a small community institution in Alabama that, over the last decade, has almost exclusively served Republican politicians—as their bank of record.
The most prominent Bryant Bank customer in politics is Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.), who co-founded the Alabama Policy Institute in 1989. When Palmer left the organization to run for Congress in 2014, he handed it to Caleb Crosby, who today serves as the treasurer of the CLF.
Popular Information previously tied Crosby to yet another sham PAC, Lead Left, which spent nearly $900,000 supporting a fringe Democratic House candidate in Texas. Lead Left listed its address as a Tallahassee Staples that had previously been used only by committees connected to Crosby’s own political compliance firm.
The FEC filings seal the case. Both Progressive Champions PAC and Real Change PAC recently changed their filing frequency using Crimson Filer, software marketed as “the premiere compliance filing software for Republicans.”
Why NY-17?
The district is shaping up to be one of the most expensive and competitive House races in the country. Incumbent Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) is one of only three House Republicans representing a district carried by Kamala Harris in 2024, making him a top Democratic target in November.
Conley is facing fellow Democrat Beth Davidson in the June 23 primary.
Recent polling has been mixed; the most recent survey puts Conley up seven points, while two earlier polls show Davidson ahead by six and 11.
Early voting in the NY-17 Democratic primary is already underway. The primary is June 23.
