South Dakota Senate Race Heats Up: Super PACs Spend Hundreds of Thousands Attacking Each Other's Candidates
With two weeks to go before the November 3 election, South Dakota's U.S. Senate race has entered the peak of its advertising war.
South Dakota Public Broadcasting reported on October 20, analyzing raw Federal Election Commission filings, that super PACs have spent nearly $500,000 this month attacking incumbent Republican Senator Mike Rounds, while attack spending against independent candidate Brian Bengs over the past two months has also exceeded $500,000. The super PACs opposing Rounds include "Retire Career Politicians," whose money comes mostly from other PACs; another new group, "Freedom from Politics," was formed early this month, and its filings show a $1.2 million donation from Jacksonville, Florida attorney Steven Pajcic III.
All of the attack money against Bengs, by contrast, comes from a single source, the South Dakota Conservative PAC. As long as they do not coordinate directly with candidates' campaigns, super PACs face no limits on raising or spending, and their money flows have become an important window on the state of the race.
South Dakota voters will choose between incumbent Republican Senator Mike Rounds and independent Brian Bengs, as television ads and other campaign messaging try to shape final voting intentions.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：南达科他州联邦参议员迈克·朗兹官方肖像。图片来源：美国参议院，公共领域 / Photo: U.S. Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota, official portrait. Source: U.S. Senate, public domain
