Conservatives funded efforts to undercut Sherrod Brown with Black voters in Ohio, filing shows

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A mysterious group that has spent at least $2 million boosting a little-known socialist candidate in Ohio’s highly competitive Senate race is being funded by Republicans, according to a new campaign finance filing.

Enough Promises Ohio has poured money into ads and mailers that criticize Democratic former Sen. Sherrod Brown, including messaging seeking to undercut his standing with Black voters, and back independent candidate Greg Levy, who denies any connection the group.

The group revealed its donors for the first time Thursday ahead of the pre-election disclosure deadline. Its filing showed that its only donor from October 1-14 was Conservative Americans PAC, a Republican super PAC, which contributed $2.5 million.

Conservative Americans PAC became well-known earlier in the election cycle after it took credit for meddling in Democratic primaries for the House, trying to elevate Democrats who they thought would be more beatable in the general election.

The super PAC’s presence in Ohio now comes as Brown is running to unseat GOP Sen. Jon Husted in one of the country’s most competitive Senate races.

One of Enough Promises Ohio’s online ads says Brown “sold us out” and that Levy is the “real progressive.”

“END THE WAR ON BLACK AMERICA,” reads the front of a mailer obtained by CNN, accompanied by images of Levy, who is Black, while the back of the mailer shows Brown and says, “SHERROD BROWN BUILT THE SYSTEM TO LOCK US UP.”

Super PACs cannot coordinate with campaigns under federal law.

Levy’s campaign said in a statement earlier this month that it “has no ties ” to Enough Promises Ohio and condemned what it described as the “attempted deception of voters.”

A spokesperson for Husted’s campaign, Amy Natoce, said in an email that the campaign “had no involvement” with Enough Promises Ohio.

Another super PAC, Buckeye Freedom PAC, has spent even more targeting Husted and promoting the Libertarian candidate, Bill Redpath. That group has not disclosed any donors yet.

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images

根据一份新的竞选财务文件显示，一个神秘团体至少花费了 200 万美元来支持一位鲜为人知的社会主义候选人参加俄亥俄州竞争激烈的参议院选举，而该团体的资金来源是共和党人。

“俄亥俄州承诺不足”组织投入大量资金用于广告和邮件宣传，批评民主党前参议员谢罗德·布朗，包括试图削弱他在黑人选民中的地位，并支持独立候选人格雷格·利维，但利维否认与该组织有任何联系。

该组织于周四首次公开了其捐款人信息，赶在选举前披露截止日期之前。其提交的文件显示，10月1日至14日期间，该组织唯一的捐款人是共和党超级政治行动委员会“保守派美国人政治行动委员会”（Conservative Americans PAC），该委员会捐款250万美元。

保守派美国人政治行动委员会在选举周期早期就已声名鹊起，因为它声称干预了众议院民主党初选，试图提拔那些他们认为在普选中更容易被击败的民主党人。

超级政治行动委员会此时出现在俄亥俄州，正值布朗竞选参议员，挑战共和党参议员乔恩·赫斯特，这场参议院选举是全国竞争最激烈的选举之一。

“俄亥俄州足够承诺”组织的一则网络广告称，布朗“出卖了我们”，而莱维才是“真正的进步派”。

CNN 获得的一份宣传邮件正面写着“结束对美国黑人的战争”，并附有黑人莱维的照片；邮件背面则印有布朗的照片，并写道：“谢罗德·布朗建立了这个系统来监禁我们。”

根据联邦法律，超级政治行动委员会不能与竞选活动协调。

莱维的竞选团队本月早些时候发表声明称，该组织与“俄亥俄州足够承诺”组织“没有任何联系”，并谴责了该组织所谓的“企图欺骗选民”的行为。

Husted竞选团队发言人Amy Natoce在一封电子邮件中表示，该竞选团队“与Enough Promises Ohio没有任何关系”。

另一个超级政治行动委员会“俄亥俄州自由政治行动委员会”（Buckeye Freedom PAC）投入了更多资金，专门针对哈斯特德，并支持自由党候选人比尔·雷德帕斯。该组织尚未披露任何捐款人信息。