Nevada congressional candidate’s fundraising tactics raise eyebrows – Las Vegas Sun

Drew Johnson, the Republican candidate challenging incumbent Democrat Susie Lee for her seat in the US House of Representatives, received an endorsement for his campaign from the National Republican Congressional Committee after reaching benchmarks from the national organization.

Johnson reached that threshold with what could be considered creative fundraising: He donated $422,000 to his campaign on August 18.

A month later, on September 20, Johnson was named one of six new selections in the NRCC’s Young Gun program.

The NRCC program can give applicants additional support in fundraising, communications and staffing.

Twelve days after Johnson was announced as a Young Gun, the campaign paid off the personal loan.

Without this loan, the amount of cash Johnson had on hand at the beginning of October was about $64,000.

Tiffany Mueller, president of the campaign finance watchdog End Citizens United, said the loan raises “a lot of red flags.”

“The chronology of events suggests that he did this to secure a spot on the NRCC Young Guns list and all the perks that comes with it,” Mueller, whose organization exclusively investigates Republicans, wrote in a statement to the Sun.

The NRCC in July named John Lee, a former North Las Vegas mayor running for the 4th Congressional District seat against incumbent Democratic Rep. Stephen Horsford, a “Young Gun.” While John Lee lent his money to the campaign in late August, it has not yet been returned.

Last month, Lee reported that he had $148,000.

After receiving a list of questions from the Sun, Johnson wrote that he was “fully aware of the Sun’s reputation for carrying water for far-left candidates.”

“Disappointingly, the first time I heard from your publication in the 18 months since I ran for Congress was a few days before the election when I was running and you ran a ridiculous last-gasp hit piece concocted by my opponent’s team based on a complete distortion of campaign finance records,” he wrote.

He added that if the Sun wanted to discuss the political differences between him and Lee, he would “be happy to provide quotes”. After asking to speak by phone, Johnson’s team re-sent the original statement.

(Johnson was interviewed by a Sun reporter on Sept. 4 at a campaign event for U.S. Senate candidate Sam Brown, and his campaign was contacted by the Sun’s editorial page editor on May 1 before the primary endorsements were released.)

Instead of a simple wire transfer, financial records show Johnson went through WinRed, a third-party platform that directs small cash donations to Republican candidates across the country.

The platform accepts up to $6,600 per donation, the combined primary and general election fundraising limit. WinRed also charges a 3.2% fee for “high dollar” donations.

Johnson made 64 transactions worth $6,600 on Aug. 18, potentially racking up more than $13,000 in fees.

Kenneth Miller, an assistant professor at UNLV who studies campaign finance, said he doesn’t know why Johnson’s campaign would want to take that route.

Johnson was a surprise primary winner, so Miller said it makes sense why the NRCC would want to endorse him. With Johnson’s campaign raising more than half a million dollars in typical donations, the NRCC’s help would be a “welcome opportunity” to pay off the loan, the aide added.

The NRCC also did not respond to a request for comment.

“We’ve never seen a candidate borrow his campaign money in such a strange, inefficient and shady way — only to pay it off before the election,” Mueller wrote.

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