Fear factor: ‘Vote Alaska Before Party’ ad buy has been accelerated by group supporting Peltola

A side group backing Rep. Mary Peltola that calls itself “Vote Alaska Before Party” is coming out of the closet: It’s all Democrats.

The group reveals a much bigger expenditure than the last report to the Federal Elections Commission leading up to the primary. To date, the group, headed by Alaska Democrat operative Jim Lottsfeldt, will now spend almost $834,000 opposing Nick Begich, Nancy Dahlstrom, and Gerald Heikes — all before the Aug. 20 primary.

The filing at the Federal Elections Commission shows the Peltola campaign is in more trouble than the campaign earlier predicted, because this filing shows that money has been pulled forward in time. It was money the group intended to spend after the primary.

“Vote Alaska Before Party” is a front group for the Democratic National Campaign Committee. The House “Majority PAC,” which is for Democrats, is its largest funder. The year-to-date expenditures of $834,000 is a lot of money to spend in the Alaska media market, which is small compared to almost all other states.

The group doing the work for “Vote Alaska Before Party” is Waterfront Strategies, which is a group with links to George Soros.

According to Influence Watch, Waterfront Strategies is an advertising purchasing firm formed by principals of the powerhouse Democratic political consulting firm Greer, Margolis, Mitchell, and Burns (GMMB Consulting). Waterfront typically works in conjunction with GMMB, placing media buys for political action committees (PACs), while GMMB works directly for political candidates and committees.

Jim Margolis was a top campaign consultant for President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

“Since its first election cycle on record in 2012, Waterfront Strategies has become the top vendor for Democratic PACs, labor unions, and left-of-center nonprofits, spending $206,003,697 in the 2018 election cycle. ¹ Senate Majority PAC, House Majority PAC, Women Vote!, League of Conservation Voters, NextGen Climate Action, and the government worker labor union AFSCME are among Waterfront Strategies’ top clients,” the watchdog group says.