Republican megadonor Jeff Yass recently gave to a super PAC that is trying to topple a progressive incumbent in Pittsburgh.
The Moderate PAC, an outside group that aims to support centrist Democrats, has been boosting a primary challenge to Rep. Summer Lee, a member of “The Squad.” Lee and her supporters are quick to point out that Yass, a Pennsylvania businessperson, donated $1 million to the PAC in 2022, when it spent in support of Democratic Reps. Jared Golden of Maine and Don Davis of North Carolina.
Yass has actually given more to the group in recent weeks, Moderate PAC’s president, Ty Strong, told POLITICO — the first time that donation is being disclosed publicly.
Moderate PAC was formed last cycle, and received almost no donations last year. When the PAC began airing its first ad last month — a contrast ad boosting Lee’s challenger Bhavini Patel, a member of the Edgewood Borough Council — Strong said that it was funded by donations raised in Lee’s 12th District.
Strong declined to say how much the billionaire gave this time around, saying the details will be disclosed in a campaign finance filing due later this month. He said he approached Yass in March, after receiving the donations from constituents in the district.
“I went to Jeff Yass and made a proposal,” Strong said. “He knew nothing about Summer. … He’s a really wealthy guy, so he made a donation in line with his wealth. But there’s other Pittsburgh people that are now seeing this and doing the same thing. And so it’s not Jeff Yass, it’s me and Pittsburgh who realized that this far-left member shouldn’t be representing a D-plus-eight district.”
