{"id":1568913,"date":"2022-07-24T20:53:02","date_gmt":"2022-07-25T00:53:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1568913"},"modified":"2022-07-24T21:06:27","modified_gmt":"2022-07-25T01:06:27","slug":"mark-kelly-raked-in-cash-from-corporate-backed-pacs-despite-pledging-to-refuse-corporate-pac-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mark-kelly-raked-in-cash-from-corporate-backed-pacs-despite-pledging-to-refuse-corporate-pac-money\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Kelly Raked In Cash From Corporate-Backed PACs Despite Pledging To Refuse \u2018Corporate PAC Money\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmark-kelly-raked-in-cash-from-corporate-backed-pacs-despite-pledging-to-refuse-corporate-pac-money%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1568913&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/GettyImages-1229449260-scaled-e1658281824793.jpeg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li> <strong>Democratic Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, who sponsored a bill to ban corporations from operating PACs, <\/strong><strong>has repeatedly emphasized he does not and will not \u201ctake a dime of corporate PAC money.\u201d<\/strong> <\/li>\n<li><strong>However, Kelly\u2019s campaign has raked in around $154,000 from Democratic PACs since March 2019 that have hauled in large sums from corporate PACs, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u201cAll he\u2019s good at is raising money from Wall Street and Big Pharma executives,\u201d Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters, who has led in recent Republican primary polls, told the DCNF when asked about the donations to Kelly\u2019s campaign.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Sen. Mark Kelly has pledged since unveiling his 2019 senate bid that he would refuse corporate campaign dollars. But since that time, the Arizona Democrat has accepted hundreds of thousands in donations from political action committees (PAC) backed by corporations, according to federal records reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation.<\/p>\n<p>Kelly has repeatedly <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CaptMarkKelly\/status\/1470849764417687552\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">emphasized<\/a>\u00a0he does not and will not \u201ctake a dime of corporate PAC money.\u201d Despite that pledge, the former astronaut\u2019s campaign has raked in roughly $154,000 from Democratic PACs since March 2019 that have hauled in large sums from PACs for corporations, Federal Election Commission (FEC) records show.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, Kelly\u2019s campaign has received $20,000 combined from the Green Mountain PAC since June 2019, FEC <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/data\/disbursements\/?cycle=2022&#038;data_type=processed&#038;committee_id=C00409110&#038;recipient_name=Kelly&#038;line_number=F3X-23\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">filings<\/a> show. Green Mountain <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenmountainpac.com\/\">PAC<\/a>, a leadership PAC affiliated with Democratic Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, has accepted $247,500 since 2005 from corporate PACs for Google, Pfizer, AT&#038;T, General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/data\/disbursements\/?cycle=2022&#038;data_type=processed&#038;committee_id=C00016683&#038;committee_id=C00078451&#038;committee_id=C00088591&#038;committee_id=C00109017&#038;committee_id=C00428623&#038;recipient_name=C00409110&#038;line_number=F3X-23\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">filings<\/a> show.<\/p>\n<p>Nutmeg PAC, a leadership <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opensecrets.org\/political-action-committees-pacs\/nutmeg-pac\/C00492983\/summary\/2020\">PAC<\/a> associated with Democratic Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/data\/disbursements\/?cycle=2022&#038;data_type=processed&#038;committee_id=C00492983&#038;recipient_name=mark+kelly&#038;line_number=F3X-23\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">contributed<\/a> $17,500 to Kelly\u2019s campaign since May 2019. At the same time, the PAC has accepted $231,000 since 2011 from corporate PACs for Microsoft, Comcast, Raytheon Technologies, Pfizer, Honeywell, General Dynamics and UBS, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/data\/disbursements\/?cycle=2022&#038;data_type=processed&#038;committee_id=C00012245&#038;committee_id=C00016683&#038;committee_id=C00078451&#038;committee_id=C00096156&#038;committee_id=C00097568&#038;committee_id=C00227546&#038;committee_id=C00248716&#038;recipient_name=C00492983&#038;line_number=F3X-23\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">filings<\/a> show.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2022\/07\/12\/dems-biden-student-loans-forgiveness\/\"><strong>(RELATED: Democrats Pushing College Loan Forgiveness Owe Massive Sums In Student Debt, Records Show)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Kelly has also notably raked in $31,350 from Frontline USA since May 2020, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/data\/disbursements\/?cycle=2022&#038;data_type=processed&#038;committee_id=C00422774&#038;recipient_name=C00696526&#038;line_number=F3X-23\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">filings<\/a> show. Frontline USA, a leadership PAC <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opensecrets.org\/political-action-committees-pacs\/frontline-usa\/C00422774\/summary\/2020\">associated<\/a> with Democratic California Rep. Adam Schiff, has received $112,500 from corporate PACs for Raytheon, Boeing, Comcast, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/data\/receipts\/?data_type=processed&#038;committee_id=C00422774&#038;contributor_name=C00088591&#038;contributor_name=C00097568&#038;contributor_name=C00142711&#038;contributor_name=C00248716&#038;contributor_name=C00303024\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">since<\/a> 2010, records show.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, the senator has tweeted about not accepting \u201ccorporate PAC\u201d money a total of 45 times <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/search?q=corporate%20PAC%20(from%3ACaptMarkKelly)&#038;src=typed_query\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">between<\/a> February 2019 and July 18, 2022, according to a DCNF review of Kelly\u2019s Twitter account history.<\/p>\n<p>Kelly, who first <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CaptMarkKelly\/status\/1095469480526864384\">tweeted<\/a> about the issue in February 2019, released a campaign ad in 2020 in which he <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CaptMarkKelly\/status\/1232340430328455169\">claimed<\/a> \u201ccorporate money into campaigns poisons our democracy,\u201d explaining he would have a \u201cgrassroots effort\u201d to win his race. The senator also\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kelly.senate.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/sens-kelly-ossoff-introduce-ban-corporate-pacs-act\/\">sponsored<\/a> a bill in January that would ban corporations from operating PACs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll he\u2019s good at is raising money from Wall Street and Big Pharma executives,\u201d Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters, who has <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.ohpredictive.com\/press-releases\/az-gop-senate-race-masters-of-his-own-destiny?utm_campaign=AZPOP&#038;utm_content=214195031&#038;utm_medium=social&#038;utm_source=twitter&#038;hss_channel=tw-804770917846876160\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">led<\/a> in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.publicpolicypolling.com\/polls\/masters-leads-by-double-digits-in-arizona-senate-primary\/\">recent<\/a> Republican primary polls, told the DCNF when asked about Kelly\u2019s donations.<\/p>\n<p>Kelly\u2019s actions are \u201chypocritical,\u201d Mark Brnovich, the Republican Arizona Attorney General who is also running for Senate, told the DCNF. His actions exemplify \u201cwhy so many people are fed up with Washington, D.C.,\u201d Brnovich also said.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">One of the biggest problems in our politics today is the amount of corporate PAC money in politics. That\u2019s why I refuse to take a dime from corporate PACs to fund my campaign. I will always fight <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ForArizona?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ForArizona<\/a> families, not special interests.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Captain Mark Kelly (@CaptMarkKelly) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CaptMarkKelly\/status\/1162380547852660736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 16, 2019<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Kelly\u2019s senate seat is a \u201ctoss up\u201d in the 2022 midterms, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cookpolitical.com\/ratings\/senate-race-ratings\">according<\/a> to The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan group analyzing elections and campaigns. He is favorable with 50% of Arizonans and 49% of Independent voters, a June <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.ohpredictive.com\/press-releases\/biden-remains-underwater-as-midterms-approach\">poll<\/a> by OH Predicative Insights found.<\/p>\n<p>Kelly\u2019s campaign did not respond to the DCNF\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n<p><em>Josh Hypes contributed to this story.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact <a href=\"mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8216;Hypocritical&#8217;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":381,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1568913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1568913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/381"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1568913"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1568913\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1568913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1568913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1568913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}