Nonprofit directly contributes to Senate campaign via its PAC

The Democratic National Committee claims independent expenditures made on Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dan Coats’ behalf are coming from the same companies that threaten American jobs.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Political Action Committee recently plunked down $5,000 for Coats’ campaign, according to the Federal Election Commission.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce PAC is an organization the DNC claims is paying for ads with revenue generated by state-owned companies in the Middle East and China.

An advertisement paid for by the DNC claims the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is stealing U.S. democracy by taking secret foreign money to influence elections.

As a result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, nonprofit groups or 501(c)(6) organizations such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, are able spend unlimited sums of money on advertising, and through their PAC, they are also able to donate to candidates and political parties.   

Coats’ campaign denies the allegations against the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and voiced Coats’ support for the Citizens United decision.

“This is an issue of the freedom of speech and where transparency is important through the disclosing of where PAC checks come from, where individual checks come from,” said Pete Seat, a spokesman for Dan Coats. “At the end of the day, a ruling such as this is about the freedom of speech and ensuring that voices are heard during elections.”

Democrats such as President Barack Obama condemned the Citizens United decision, arguing it will open a floodgate for special interests, including foreign corporations.

“President Obama and his allies like to go out and rail against groups putting ads on television and sending out mailers, but what’s ironic about the situation is labor organizations, which predominantly support Democrats, have spent far more money than the U.S. Chamber or any other organizations that Democrats rail against,” Seat said.  

Seat said the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the Service Employees International Union, both labor organizations, have spent together a total of $171.5 million on this election compared to the U.S. Chamber and two other organizations, which have spent $140 million.

“There’s a lot of railing from Democrats, but at the end of the day they have benefited far more from the type of spending they decry than the other side has,” Seat said.

Nevertheless, Coats has more than doubled Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Brad Ellsworth’s total receipts thus far.  

Ellsworth was unavailable for comment.

As of Oct. 28, Coats has more than $4.4 million in receipts compared with Ellsworth who has more than $2.2 million, according to the FEC.

Other groups supporting Coats include the Indiana Republican State Committee, INC, which contributed about $1,270 to Coats’ campaign and spent more than $4,300 in independent expenditures on Coats’ behalf.  

Although Ellsworth is falling behind in campaign donations, he has the support of an Indiana politician with millions of dollars in campaign cash, retiring U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind.

According to a press release on Bayh’s website, Bayh recently donated $1 million of his $13 million “war chest” to Indiana Democrats, calling it “a million dollar vote of confidence in Brad Ellsworth and Indiana Democrats.”

Dan Parker, Indiana Democratic Party chairman, said in the press release that federal rules will allow the party to spend $850,000 of Bayh’s $1 million contribution directly on Ellsworth’s Senate campaign.  

With Election Day four days away, recent poll reports predict Coats will pull through with a win.

Coats has maintained a steady lead with 53 percent of the vote compared to Ellsworth, who has 33.7 percent of the vote, according to RealClearPoltics.com.