On Super Tuesday, California advanced Adam Schiff and Steve Garvey to the 2024 general election to compete for the U.S. Senate seat that became vacant after 90-year-old Dianne Feinstein died while in office. California uses what are called “jungle primaries,” meaning that all candidates from all parties are on the ballot for the primary vote, but only the top vote-getters advance. In this case, both Sheff and Garvey, the former Dodgers first baseman and 1974 National League MVP, led the way, each receiving more than 30% of the vote. Rep. Katie Porter, the progressive congresswoman for California's 45th District, received about 10% of the vote.
On Wednesday, Porter took to X to thank her supporters for voting to “change the status quo in Washington,” saying:
“Because of you, we have become afraid of the establishment – with its 3-to-1 tolerance in TV spending and the onslaught of billionaires spending millions on… This election was rigged“.
Thank you to everyone who supported our campaign and voted to change the status quo in Washington. Because of you, we have become afraid of the establishment, enduring a 3-to-1 TV spending split and an onslaught from billionaires spending millions to rig this election. (1/)
– Katie Porter (@katieporteroc) March 6, 2024
Oh boy! Comments began to pour in regarding the use of the term “rigged” by agitated Democrats and deniers of election fraud (despite the overwhelming evidence). However, both sides of the political spectrum agreed, with conservatives pointing out the hypocrisy.
The setback must have been huge. Later that night, Porter issued the following statement:
“Forged” means to be manipulated by dishonest means. A few billionaires spent more than $10 million on ad attacks against me, including one that was rated “false” by an independent fact-checker. This is a dishonest way to manipulate the result. You said “it's been rigged by billionaires” and our politics are – in fact – being manipulated by big dark money. Defending democracy means advocating for it. At no time did I undermine California's vote counting and electoral process, which is beyond question.
“Above suspicion.” Blame means “to express disapproval, criticism, or disappointment.” It is ridiculous to suggest at all that our elections are “above reproach,” as if questioning the process is ever permissible. All this in order to disrupt the “status quo in Washington”!
But the context in which I used the term “rigged” is fascinating because it is strikingly similar to, but significantly less “rigged” than what Trump’s supporters have been (partially) claiming since the 2020 presidential election.
More than two years ago, I wrote an article titled “Voter Lists Are Key.” In that article, financial issues similar to what Porter claims are discussed. But Porter's claims Pales in comparison to what happened in the 2020 election. Porter's allegations relate to ad buying and common campaign practices. What Zuckerberg and Chan did went further.
Instead of “billionaires spending millions to rig this election,” in 2020, one billionaire in particular, Mark Zuckerberg, did almost all of the financial heavy lifting. Meta's founder donated more than $400 million to two entities: The Center for Technology and Civic Life (CTCL) received $350 million, while the lesser-known Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR) received $69.5 million.
CTCL was founded by Obama Foundation Fellow Tiana Epps Johnson and is staffed by friends from the Institute for New Regulation, while CEIR's executive director is also a co-founder of ERIC. ERIC is an election registration system that has been used in 29 states and D.C. and contains more than 17 million voter records.
The CEIR disproportionately distributed $69.5 million to “swing states,” with Pennsylvania ($13.3 million), Michigan ($11.9 million), Georgia ($5.6 million), and Arizona ($4.8 million) in addition to New Jersey ($6.2 million dollars) and the state of New Jersey ($6.2 million). New York ($5 million). The remaining states received an average of $1.57 million each.
Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-22), co-chair of the Election Integrity Caucus, issued an earlier press release that said:
“…a liberal non-profit group has flooded left-leaning counties in the states Texas, Ohio, Nevada, Minnesota, Georgia, Florida, Arizona, and Pennsylvania With non-transparent private funding to increase voter turnout. After analyzing the Center for Technology and Civic Life's (CTCL) IRS Form 990, Tenney's office confirmed this Of the $144.2 million spent by CTCL in these key states In the 2020 elections, 90 percent went to Democratic-leaning counties won by Joe Biden, while only 10 percent went to right-leaning counties that voted for Donald Trump.“
“Fake.”
It is promising that a Democrat like Porter would admit to “rigging” our elections through “dark money,” but unfortunately, it goes beyond just financial matters, and nearly every “elected” official we have has refused to investigate it. In “Voter Lists Are Key”, a lot is revealed about this how Specifically, $400 million was used to “rig” the election. However, there is also systemic fraud and shortcomings that should certainly call for a “rebuke” of our electoral systems.
