By Staff Reporter |
Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego (D) invested campaign funds into an AI startup launched by Rep. Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat and gubernatorial candidate.
Gallego paid Swalwell’s startup FindRaiser over $13,000 between April and July of last summer from two campaign committees: Gallego for Arizona and Juntos PAC, as first reported by NOTUS. About $10,500 came from Gallego for Arizona and over $2,600 came from Juntos PAC. Both issued identical disbursements of $2,613.75 for subscriptions to the startup, per Federal Election Commission (FEC) records.
First congressional district candidate Marlene Galan-Woods also got in on the action. Galan-Woods, a former Fox News and CBS News anchor and key member of Gov. Katie Hobbs’ gubernatorial transition team in 2023, paid almost $1,000 to Swalwell’s startup between October and November of last year.
Swalwell and Gallego have described one another as “best friends” in various media interviews over the years. In a more recent interview with CNN last November, Swalwell likened himself and Gallego to “the Avengers,” describing them as the standard-bearers of the Democratic Party.
The startup, FindRaiser, uses AI to search and provide advice to candidates about their donor databases. Swalwell’s former chief of staff, Yardena Wolf, cofounded the startup and serves as its CEO. NOTUS reported that Wolf sent promotional emails for FindRaiser prior to stepping down as chief of staff last December.
Wolf joined Swalwell’s office in 2021, making the transition from the vice presidency of a fundraising company where she’d raised funds for Swalwell. Listed on Wolf’s LinkedIn under her chief of staff employment is a link to a 2024 Elle article, “The Group Chat That Secretly Runs Congress.” Members of that group chat, all females, included chiefs of staff for Democratic representatives that gave campaign funds to FindRaiser.
Swalwell invested over $7,000 of his own campaign funds into the startup as well. In his annual financial disclosure report, Swalwell estimated FindRaiser’s value to be between $250,000 and $500,000.
Others to give money to the startup out of their campaign coffers were:
- Alabama Rep. Shomari Figures, over $1,000 from Committee to Elect Shomari Figures For Congress through payments made last June and July;
- California Rep. Jimmy Gomez, $3,000 from Jimmy Gomez For Congress through payments made from last July through November;
- California Sen. Adam Schiff, about $2,000 from Schiff For Senate through payments made last November and December;
- Michigan U.S. House candidate Matt Maasdam, $500 from Matt Maasdam For Congress through a payment made last August;
- Michigan Rep. Haley Stevens, over $3,600 from Hayley Stevens For Senate through payments made from last June through October;
- Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig, $2,300 from Angie Craig For Minnesota through payments made from last September through December;
- Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, over $4,500 from Ilhan For Congress, through payments made from last March through October;
- Nevada Rep. Steven Horsford, $500 from Nevadans For Steven Horsford in a payment made last October;
- New York Rep. Dan Goldman, over $7,400 from Dan Goldman For New York, through payments made from last April through December;
- New York Rep. Joe Morelle, over $6,500 from Joe Morelle For Congress, through payments made from last April through December;
- Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett, $4,500 from Jasmine For Us and $1,000 from Jasmine For Texas, through payments made from last March through this February;
- Texas Rep. Tom Suozzi, $5,000 from Suozzi for Congress in a payment made last July; and
- South Carolina U.S. Senate candidate Annie Andrews, over $4,200 from Dr. Annie Andrews For Senate, through payments made from last July through November
FEC records show FindRaiser raised nearly $67,500.
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