Republican Donors Quietly Boost Sarah Elfreth over Harry Dunn in Democratic Primary

Sarah Elfreth, a progressive 35-year-old state senator, is quietly being boosted by Republican donors as she battles for Maryland’s 3rd Congressional seat. News of Elfreth’s right-wing support has started bubbling up, but for most Democratic primary voters it’ll come too late; the election is Tuesday, and most will cast their ballots unaware of this shocking development.

Elfreth’s Republican support arrives mostly via a convoluted chain, at the center of which is AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, and its innocuous sounding super PAC, United Democracy Project. For right-wing American Jews, UDP has quickly become the preferred vehicle for funneling millions of dollars into, of all things, Democratic primaries. This largely under-the-radar spending is massive; so massive, in fact, that in its first election cycle, in 2022, UDP spent more on Democratic primaries than any other outside group. And this year, UDP aims to up its spending further, to $100 million.

While UDP spends almost exclusively in Democratic primaries, its deep roster of Republican contributors includes billionaire Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus, who’s given the group $2 million, and billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Singer, who’s given $1 million.

“To be fair, they’re not all pure saboteurs,” writes Slate’s Alexander Sammon. “A few of the top 10 contributors to the United Democracy Project super PAC have given small amounts to Democrats before… But in no world could you even call this a bipartisan group of benefactors. It’s Republicans who know what they’re doing.”

And what they’re doing is quietly shaping Democratic primaries across the country to their right-wing liking, including Maryland’s 3rd Congressional District, where UDP has spent over $4 million backing Elfreth.

It’s not just funding that UDP is providing; it’s “actually embedded in Elfreth’s organizing infrastructure and helping run her ground game,” the American Prospect reported.

This extraordinary investment would make sense if Elfreth and her chief rival, Harry Dunn, held dissimilar views on Israel, which is AIPAC’s overriding concern. But the candidates’ views are seemingly indistinguishable. Yet UDP’s millions exclusively boost Elfreth, not Dunn, a former Capitol Police officer who won national acclaim for fighting off January 6 insurrectionists.

Elfreth claims she doesn’t know why UDP’s millions are backing her. “I honest to God have no idea,” she said. Regardless of how credible Elfreth’s claim may be, what’s clear is that she’s determined to keep UDP’s money flowing her way. (I wrote about why AIPAC might be backing Elfreth last week.)

Meanwhile, Democratic voters in Howard County and parts of Carroll and Anne Arundel counties have a choice to make Tuesday. It’s not over U.S. policy towards Israel, but whether to elect a candidate backed by Republican donors.