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‘Dark money’ group accused of ‘scheme’ to tip election in favor of Democrats, manipulate GOP voters

‘It really seems the intention is to get Republicans to stay at home,’ Americans for Public Trust’s Caitlin Sutherland tells Fox News Digital

By Elizabeth Elkind
Fox News

Published October 27, 2026 6:00am EDT

FIRST ON FOX:A mysterious new group purporting to be part of an “anti-globalist,” pro-American movement is targeting Republicans in battleground House races across the country in what some are calling a coordinated scheme to suppress GOP votes.

The American Forge Coalition has sent out a flurry of mailers to voters this month accusing vulnerable Republicans of not being conservative enough. Some believe it’s a coordinated effort by the left to depress GOP voter turnout in the midterm election just a week away.

“This is a shady Democrat dark money scheme using a front group that isn’t even registered with the Federal Election Commission, mailing Republicans at the start of early voting to suppress them from turning out,” Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., campaign spokesman Ciro Riccardi told Fox News Digital.

In fact, an investigation by Fox News Digital found that the group’s targets include Lawler’s race in New York’s 17th Congressional District, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., in Pennsylvania’s 1st Congressional District, Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., in Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District, and Laurie Buckhout, who is running to unseat Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C., in North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District.

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A dark money group is being accused of trying to suppress the GOP vote in the midterm elections.(iStock)

In Lawler’s, Kiggans’ and Fitzpatrick’s cases, the group sent mailers accusing them of supporting “mass amnesty” and “letting criminals escape justice after illegally entering our nation.”

Mailers sent in Van Orden and Buckhout’s races accused them of being too lenient on abortion. Mailers sent in North Carolina claimed Buckhout supports “abortions up until birth,” while Wisconsin voters got flyers that said Van Orden “would allow the murder of the unborn into the second trimester.”

Both attack lines take liberties with the truth.

Lawler, Fitzpatrick and Kiggans all support the Dignity Act, which establishes a pathway to temporary legal status for undocumented migrants provided they pay certain fees and pass a background check, while also increasing pay for Border Patrol. But none support amnesty for illegal immigrants with criminal histories.

In the case of Van Orden and Buckhout, both have positioned themselves as pro-life and have been attacked by Democrats as “anti-abortion.”

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“They are obviously a left-wing dark money group. This is unfortunately not a new tactic by them. And they are really hurting our country,” Fitzpatrick’s campaign told Fox News Digital. “They are telling Republicans that we are too independent, and then telling Democrats that we’re not independent enough.”

It is not clear where the American Forge Coalition’s money or support is coming from, and it almost appears deliberately structured to obscure that information.

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The group is registered as a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization or advocacy group rather than a political action committee (PAC), meaning it does not need to disclose its financial information with the FEC. Groups registered as 501(c)(4) are permitted to advocate for certain issues but barred by law from directly campaigning for a specific candidate in an election.

“There are liberal and conservative groups that have been taking advantage of the Supreme Court Citizens United ruling to spend secret money in our elections,” Money in Politics Reform Director Michael Beckel told Fox News Digital. “When you’ve got a group like the American Forge Coalition popping up, there is a very slim paper trail that somebody can follow to try to make heads or tails of how they are trying to exert influence in election, what special interests or wealthy mega-donors might truly be calling the shots for a group like this.”

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Fitzpatrick’s campaign said the goal of such groups “is to have a Congress where no more pragmatic, reasonable lawmakers are left.”

Caitlin Sutherland, executive director at Americans for Public Trust, told Fox News Digital, “The funders behind this group are assuredly leaning left. So at the same time that they’re highlighting threats to democracy, they’re actively trying to suppress voters. That does seem to be incredibly hypocritical.”

Records show the group was created in May 2026 and registered in Delaware, a popular tax haven state.

The Wilmington address it’s registered at was highlighted in a 2012 New York Times story because it also happens to be the address of some 285,000 different businesses, from small companies to corporate giants like American Airlines, Google, and JPMorgan Chase.

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“A lot of organizations on both the left and the right incorporate in Delaware, where the incorporation laws are generally viewed as pretty friendly. So from the business records alone, we know very little about the American Forge Coalition,” Beckel said.

He said it’s very possible the group is being bankrolled by left-wing actors: “This could well be a group masquerading as a conservative entity that is bankrolled by liberal or Democratic-aligned donors, and the public really doesn’t have enough to go on to be able to truly assess who the donors are behind these types of really outrageous attack ads.”

And there is precedent for such moves on both sides.

In 2024, a California-based group linked to former Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., called “True Patriots PA” was accused of trying to sway voters away from Fitzpatrick in Pennsylvania toward his more right-wing primary challenger, in what appeared to be a bid to give Democrats an easier time in the general election.

But Sutherland said American Forge Coalition’s campaign stood out against past tactics in that it was not aimed at bolstering other candidates — just kneecapping Republicans.

“We’ve seen it before where these liberal dark money groups pop up late in the cycle, and they try to act as a spoiler,” she said. “I will say what seems unique about this situation is that they’re not trying to promote a third-party candidate, but it really seems the intention is to get Republicans to stay at home. That to me does seem to be a departure this cycle.”

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Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., talks with a reporter in the U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall on March 27, 2026.(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)

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Fox News Power Rankings project Democrats winning the House majority by 219 seats, compared to 198 seats likely for Republicans, with 18 remaining as toss-ups. Three of the races — Lawler’s, Kiggans’, and Miller-Meeks’ — are projected to be Democratic pickups, while the remainder are toss-ups, meaning the mailers could potentially help edge the majority away from the GOP if successful.

The group’s website does not list any donors or leadership, nor many details at all. The website appears to be an appeal to the populist right, led with the phrase: “WE THE PEOPLE built this country. NOT politicians. NOT foreigners. We’re hammering it back into shape — one job, one neighborhood, one law at a time.” Its platform advocates for tariffs on “cheap imports,” against outsourcing jobs, for building a border wall and deporting “criminals,” and stopping “Washington and the globalists from dictating to working families.”

American Forge Coalition did not respond to a list of questions sent by Fox News Digital.

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com