The liberal super PAC from Kentucky that incurred the wrath of one of the country’s most powerful Republicans is an organization of outsiders that has barely raised any funds toward its stated goal of ousting U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell from office in 2014.
While super PACs active in the 2012 elections were run by savvy political operatives raising millions from well-heeled contributors, Progress Kentucky is led by what one former state Democratic Party official described as “just a couple of activists” who are more intent on making a mockery of super PACs.
Progress Kentucky, created in December, has collected about $1,000 and spent $18, according to its latest filing with the Federal Election Commission. By contrast, McConnell, the Senate minority leader, has raised a hefty $10 million toward his re-election effort, according to his FEC filing.
“This has nothing to do with the party or even a group,” Chris Tobe, a former state Democratic Party board member, said in a statement. “(They’re) just creating a national media buzz by bending or breaking the rules.”
The group is being tied to a secret recording of a February campaign meeting held by McConnell in which his aides disparaged actress Ashley Judd. The aides laughed about Judd’s past bouts with depression and discussed possibly using that against her, as well as her political positions and religious beliefs. She was considering a Senate bid at the time.
Mother Jones, the left-leaning magazine, posted the recording Tuesday. McConnell’s campaign assailed what it called “Watergate-style tactics” to bug the office and asked the FBI to investigate.
The FBI is now looking into the incident, which involves Progress Kentucky Executive Director Shawn Reilly and volunteer Curtis Morrison, both of Louisville.
Ted Shouse, Reilly’s attorney, said Reilly and Morrison were in a “public hallway” outside the office building suite where McConnell’s meeting took place. But Shouse said Reilly never recorded anything.
Morrison didn’t return phone calls or answer the door Friday of his Louisville residence, where the blinds and curtains were closed and mail overflowed in the mailbox.
Reilly and Morrison have little influence in Kentucky’s well-established Democratic Party, Tobe said.
Kentucky is a state with more registered Democrats, 1.67 million, than Republicans, 1.16 million. It also has a Democratic governor, Steve Beshear. But Kentuckians have tended to vote for Republican candidates for Congress and president.
Tobe, who once served on the board of the Louisville Metro Democratic Party, said Reilly and Morrison are “likable.” He said he met them while working on Democratic campaigns and causes in Louisville. But he said the two “seem to believe in their causes to an extreme.”
The group drew negative attention with a tweet in February that offended both Republicans and Democrats. A Progress Kentucky volunteer referenced the Asian heritage of McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, in a tweet about the United States losing jobs to China. Progress Kentucky later apologized.
McConnell was swift in his response, calling the Twitter message a “racial slur” and “the ultimate outrage.” His campaign then ran a statewide television spot in which Chao said “far-left special interests are also attacking my ethnicity.”
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