Patricia Morgan's failed Senate bid funded by rightwing mystery donors
"Legalized money laundering"
By Christopher Shea, Rhode Island Current
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Post-election filings with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) reveal two out-of-state groups with a history of backing conservative PACs and candidates contributed $190,000 to Roosevelt Society Action on Oct. 23 — just five days before the super PAC began airing pro-Morgan ads on Rhode Island’s broadcast network stations.
But only how much they contributed and their addresses are public. Super PACs like Roosevelt Society Action are not required to disclose the names behind contributions received from nonprofits — often referred to by their federal tax code of 501(c)(4).
“The reality is, we’ll never know where that money comes from — that’s the essence of dark money,” Matthew Ulricksen, an associate professor of political science for the Community College of Rhode Island, said in an interview.
Roosevelt Society Action spent roughly $388,000 to try to influence Rhode Island’s U.S. Senate race, according to the post-election FEC filing. The PAC, which was created in September, received a total of $390,000 in contributions heading into the Nov. 5 election.
The American Policy Coalition was responsible for nearly a quarter of the contributions, giving the super PAC $90,000. The Virginia-based American Policy Coalition’s stated mission is to educate the public “about conservative fiscal policies that foster job growth,” according to its 2018 annual information return filed with the IRS.
The coalition also contributed $95,000 to support the campaign of a state senator in Tennessee who has faced allegations of collusion before that state’s Registry of Election Finance. Tennessee Lookout reported the group is run by Thomas Datwyler, a Wisconsin-based consultant who has headed up financial operations for dozens of GOP candidates and causes.
Datwyler’s Wisconsin address was also listed as the source of the initial $200,000 reported by Roosevelt Society Action in its third quarter filing with the FEC. Datwyler has denied his role, telling Rhode Island Current in October that a Florida couple were the primary funders. He declined to reveal their names.
Datwyler did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
OpenSecrets found that the American Policy Coalition contributed $110,000 to at least three other conservative-leaning groups in 2024.
The remaining quarter of Roosevelt Society Action’s contributions came from the Economic Future Fund, listed as having an address in Washington D.C., according to the super PAC’s FEC filing.
However, a group with the same name filed articles of incorporation in October 2023 in Columbus, Ohio. The form also lists one name associated with the nonprofit: Kimberly Land, an attorney who works for the Columbus-based law firm Bailey Cavalieri.
Land declined to comment when reached by Rhode Island Current, citing attorney-client privilege, and promptly hung up.
The Economic Future Fund may just be one of many incorporated companies in a long line of shells, Ulricksen suggested.
“And it’s entirely perfectly legal,” he said.
The Economic Future fund contributed at least $1.3 million to two conservative leaning organizations, according to OpenSecrets.
Roosevelt Society Action’s FEC filing also shows two disbursements totaling $7,877 toward consulting services from the Crosby Ottenhoff Group, an organization founded by longtime Republican strategists Caleb Crosby and Benjamin Ottenhoff. It’s also where the PAC’s listed treasurer, Kayla Glaze, works.
Glaze did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Ulricksen was not surprised to see the disbursement go to Glaze’s firm. He said an industry has grown around super PAC and political nonprofits since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2010 that corporations have the right to political speech.
The lax rules, he said, allow entities to pop up and promise wealthy donors they can put money to an effective use, all while taking a cut of those contributions toward either production studios or printers they own, or through consulting fees.
“Legalized money laundering, that’s what the federal campaign finance system is in the post Citizens United era,” Ulricksen said.
OpenSecrets found over 2,400 super PACs raised over $4.3 billion this election cycle, with $2.7 billion spent as of Nov. 21. Roosevelt Society Action spent just a little more than $379,000 on Rhode Island’s U.S. Senate race — mostly on mailers, including one critical of Portuguese immigrants.
Ultimately, the PAC’s spending did not make a difference in the race as Whitehouse secured his fourth term with 60% of the vote.
Whitehouse was also the clear leader in terms of funding. Rhode Island’s junior senator left the election with roughly $1.4 million on hand, according to his campaign’s most recent FEC filing.
Morgan’s campaign had a little more than $7,000 left, along with a personal loan of $28,500. She did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Morgan, who chose to not seek reelection to her seat representing Rhode Island House District 26, which covers parts of West Warwick, Coventry and Warwick, to run for U.S. Senate, will not step away from politics any time soon. The day before Thanksgiving, she announced the creation of an “Election Integrity Project.”
The project involves identifying potential issues with mail-in balloting and “ensuring every ineligible voter is identified,” an email from her U.S. Senate campaign states.
“This work is vital to protecting the sanctity of our electoral process and paving the way for the success of future Republican candidates,” Morgan wrote.
Ulricksen called Morgan’s initiative a “smoke and mirrors” deflection.
“The real problem is the secret money that our electoral system is awash in,” he said. “That’s the real threat to democracy.”
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