Labor Unions Spending Big To Support David Cook Against Wendy Rogers In Senate Race
By Matthew Holloway |
Research uncovered by AZ Free News’ investigative team has followed a trail of money that leads from major Arizona labor unions to a Democrat-funding SuperPAC and then via several smaller PACs to a supposedly ‘Conservative’ PAC. The money finally arrives at a political consultant employed by State Rep. David Cook to be used against his 2024 opponent Arizona Sen. Wendy Rogers.
It started in February with a $400,000 donation, from Arizona Pipe Trades 469 to Residents for Accountability a SuperPAC, which has dumped over $1.36 billion into the Democrat funding machine ‘ActBlue’ in 2024, which donated $261,617.02 precisely to ‘Revitalize Arizona,’ a well-known Democratic Political Action Committee (PAC). And in the end, led to a $261,617.02 payment from Arizona First to McShane, LLC: high-end political consultants who represent Rep. David Cook, earmarked to be used in opposition to Wendy Rogers For AZ Senate per election filings.
The money metaphorically went into the laundry blue and came out red on the other side.
The story unfolding today bears more than a little similarity to another funding scheme uncovered by AZ Free News in 2022 involving the Democratic Revitalize Arizona and Rep. David Cook after he sided against his party on a key bill to prohibit cities and counties from requiring prevailing wages or union labor as a condition of receiving a bid or contract. Cook’s vote was decisive. The bill failed by a single vote in a victory for the unions and a defeat for local governments and small contractors.
As reported by AZ Free News at the time:
“Revitalize Arizona, a Tempe-based PAC, is chaired by Israel Torres, a partner in the Torres Consulting and Law Group, which chairs the same address as the PAC. The PAC funneled $48,000 to the group in 2020, totaling over $122,100 over the past decade. It also paid Torres Multicultural Communications, previously known as Torres Marquez Communications, over $681,200 over the past decade, with the majority paid out to the firm in 2019: nearly $646,000.
All of their funds come from another PAC run by Torres: Residents for Accountability. That PAC receives its funds largely from unions. Among its funders from the past two years are the Arizona Pipe Trades 469 PAC, affiliated with a union, and Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC) Action Fund PAC, affiliated with a social justice nonprofit. Over the past decade, a number of other union-affiliated PACs have funded Residents for Accountability.
The PAC has a history of investing in Democratic polling companies such as the D.C.-based Lake Research Partners, whose past clientele have included President Joe Biden, former President Bill Clinton, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Janet Napolitano, Sheila Jackson Lee, AFL-CIO, and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Arizona.
They’ve also invested in Democratic polling company SKD Knickerbocker, from which Anita Dunn hailed — Biden’s senior advisor and former President Barack Obama’s communications director.”
A key difference in the 2024 scenario is the route the money took, and it’s final purpose and destination. From Revitalize Arizona, the exact same amount, $261,617.02, was moved to Arizona Voters, yet another PAC, this time managed by the American Campaign Finance Foundation. From Arizona Voters, the very same $261,617.02 went to Arizona First, which OpenSecrets.com identifies as a Conservative SuperPAC. And from there, the money in the precise amount of $261,617.02 finally arrives at McShane, LLC on June 25, 2024, five months after it left the union’s hands, in five easy steps.
Matthew Holloway is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.