A foreign billionaire-funded dark money progressive organization is spending tens of millions of dollars on statewide ballot initiatives this election cycle.
The Sixteen Thirty Fund, an organization bankrolled by left-wing Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss, has funneled $23 million into statewide ballot campaigns this cycle, including $17 million over the last six months, according to a new report from right-leaning watchdog Americans for Public Trust.
“It’s unconscionable that foreign money is currently influencing our politics through a loophole most mainstream media and politicians are either ignoring or don’t know about,” said Americans for Public Trust executive director Caitlin Sutherland.
“Activists like the ones running Sixteen Thirty Fund are targeting competitive states — not just to usher in left-wing legislative changes via these ballot measures, but also to give a boost to the liberals at the top of the ticket, which folks have openly admitted that’s their goal.”
Americans for Public Trust’s report is based on the tax returns of the Sixteen Thirty Fund and Wyss’s nonprofit Berger Action Fund, as well as public reporting and state campaign finance records.
Wyss has donated at least $243 million to the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a part of the billion-dollar progressive dark money network Arabella Advisors, an organization that bankrolls numerous progressive causes. Progressive billionaires George Soros and Pierre Omidyar are also top donors to the Sixteen Thirty Fund, one of many left-wing groups Soros and Omidyar have funded.
Federal law prohibits foreign funding for candidates and political action committees but not state-level ballot campaigns, a loophole Wyss appears to be exploiting as an influential progressive donor.
The Sixteen Thirty Fund is supporting progressive ballot initiatives in toss-up and red states of Arizona, Nevada, Montana, Florida, Ohio, Alaska, Nebraska, and Missouri. The ballot measures cover abortion, minimum wage, paid sick leave, and reforms to the electoral systems. All of them could help increase Democratic voter turnout for the presidential election and competitive down-ballot races.
Ohio’s ballot measure on redistricting could potentially cost Republicans crucial congressional seats in a red-leaning state that was once the mother of all bellwethers. The Sixteen Thirty Fund is one of many outside progressive groups bankrolling the leading activist organization pushing for Ohio’s redistricting initiative.
Abortion referendums in Arizona, Nevada, Montana, Missouri, and Florida will be among the most-watched state-level ballot fights, with abortion being a central issue this election cycle. Pro-abortion activists have successfully used the state-level ballot process to win victories even in Republican states with pro-life elected officials. They have won those battles with a combination of large outside funding, activist mobilization, and freedom-centric messaging campaigns.
Over the past ten years, Sixteen Thirty Fund has spent $115 million on statewide ballot campaigns across 25 states to advance liberal priorities over the past decade. Americans for Public Trust is calling for Congress to close the foreign-funding loophole to prevent foreign billionaires like Wyss from directly or indirectly election outcomes.
“Without closing this loophole, foreign nationals like Hansjorg Wyss are allowed to write blank checks to fund ballot issues that could prioritize their interests over those of the residents of the state,” the report warns.
“If state and federal law permits a Swiss billionaire to fund ballot initiative campaigns, there is nothing stopping U.S. adversaries from Communist China, Russia, or North Korea from doing the same.”