Dark money PAC deploys $1.5 million ad campaign to support Troy Jackson
A super PAC titled “Government That Works,” with connections to dark money networks and funded mainly by the Sixteen Thirty Fund, has invested over $1 million in support of Democrat Troy Jackson in the Maine Senate race. This spending included digital ads, TV spots, and other campaign-related expenses to boost Jackson’s chance of unseating incumbent Republican Susan Collins. The PAC’s funding sources are largely undisclosed, with meaningful contributions from foreign-influenced organizations like the Sixteen Thirty Fund, which has received large grants from affiliated entities. the PAC was established only a year ago and operates as a hybrid entity, combining features of both customary and super PACs under federal regulations. Its funding and activities are linked to broader efforts by left-wing organizations to influence elections, with an emphasis on dark money channels and undisclosed donor networks. These efforts extend to supporting other Democratic candidates and races, with connections to broader political spending and strategies. The campaign and PAC declined to comment.
A pop-up super PAC with financial ties to a dark money behemoth has already poured more than $1 million into the Maine Senate race exclusively in support of newly anointed Democratic nominee Troy Jackson.
The Government That Works PAC spent $1.5 million over just two days in support of Jackson’s Senate campaign, according to recently released Federal Election Commission filings.
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The pro-Jackson super PAC mounted a million-dollar marketing campaign between July 31 and Aug. 1, deploying large sums on digital ad buys, advertisement design services, TV spots, and television production to boost the Democratic challenger’s chances of unseating incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME). Of that seven-figure spending spree, the Government That Works PAC has dedicated $124,000 in advertising dollars to defeat Collins.
Less than a week before the PAC launched its ad blitz, Jackson became the Maine Democratic Party’s pick to replace Graham Platner after a sexual assault allegation — on top of several other controversies — tanked the progressive candidate’s Senate bid.
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Financial statements show that the Government That Works PAC is bankrolled by a left-wing network with obscure funding sources. A bulk of the super PAC’s funding came from a 501(c)(4) charity called the Sixteen Thirty Fund, which does not have to disclose its donors as a nonprofit organization. The left-of-center lobbying giant is widely considered one of the Left’s largest pass-through funding vehicles, functioning as “a clearinghouse of undisclosed cash” for the left-wing donor class.
In January, the Sixteen Thirty Fund directly gave $4 million to the Government That Works PAC. Responsive Government Action, an Illinois tax-exempt entity that itself is an affiliate of the Sixteen Thirty Fund, cut a $7 million check to the Government That Works PAC at the end of June. Combined, their $11 million dispensed in donations constitutes roughly three-fourths, or 73%, of the PAC’s $15 million in funds raised in its existence of one year.
According to the Sixteen Thirty Fund’s 2024 tax filings, the organization gave Responsive Government Action $7.7 million in grant money for “civil rights, social action, [and] advocacy.” That same reporting year, Responsive Government Action’s revenue skyrocketed from $975,000 in 2023 to more than $12 million in 2024, reflecting that the Sixteen Thirty Fund’s grant support represented a lion’s share of the subgroup’s proceeds.
In 2025, the watchdog group Americans for Public Trust released a report identifying Responsive Government Action as one of the many trade names used by the Sixteen Thirty Fund to conceal its involvement in electioneering efforts across the country.
Among the most prolific outside spenders, the Sixteen Thirty Fund has financed various voter-persuasion drives over the past decade with paid issue-advocacy campaigns. Top donors to the group include the Berger Action Fund, which is funded by Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss. Thanks to what conservatives believe is a foreign-interference loophole, the Sixteen Thirty Fund has been able to spend over $130 million influencing the outcomes of ballot initiatives. While foreign actors are strictly prohibited from spending directly in American elections, in some states, they can circumvent federal restrictions by rerouting funds to charitable organizations, such as the Sixteen Thirty Fund, which can back campaigns for or against ballot measures.
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Government That Works PAC’s political spending is connected to other contests in the 2026 election cycle. It gave $3.75 million earlier this year to the Lose Star Rising PAC, which spent almost $2.6 million opposing former Democratic Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s failed Senate run while dispensing another $1 million backing her primary opponent, James Talarico, ahead of the Texas primaries. Crockett ended up losing the Democratic nomination to Talarico.
Created only a year ago, the Government That Works PAC is based in Washington, D.C. Its chief financial officer, Christopher Koob, is a longtime Democratic consultant who previously served as the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s director of compliance. Prior to that, Koob was the director of finance convention operations at the Democratic National Committee.
According to the PAC’s bare-bones website, the committee’s tagline says it is “Electing Leaders to Make Government Work Again.” Its donation page similarly says the PAC is working to “support the next generation of candidates” committed to running a more effective government.
Structured as a hybrid PAC, the political action committee combines a traditional PAC’s ability to donate directly to individual candidates with the unlimited advertising ability of a super PAC. Under federal fundraising rules, hybrid PACs can do both: contribute to candidates and accept unlimited amounts of cash from donors, corporations, and other organizations for financing purportedly “independent” ad campaigns that are not conducted in coordination with any candidate or political party.
Hybrid PACs drew scrutiny following the 2011 case Carey v. FEC, which held that hybrid PACs are allowed to operate as long as they maintain distinct bank accounts to keep “soft” money for ad expenditures separate from “hard” candidate contributions.
The Washington Examiner contacted Jackson’s campaign and the Government That Works PAC for comment.
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