Senator Bob Casey Jr.’s (D., Pa.) reelection campaign is now trying to distance itself from a Democratic political action committee that advertised against his Republican general-election opponent in 2018 and is now using hardball tactics to convince Pennsylvania Republican voters not vote by mail in 2024, National Review has learned.
“MAGA Patriots listen to our president!” a thirty-second ad begins in all caps lettering, before cutting to old clips of the presumptive GOP nominee railing against mail-in-voting. The ad, paid for by PA Values and not authorized by any candidate or committee, closes with a clarion call to Pennsylvania Republicans: “Stand with President Trump against mail-in voting.”
The PAC’s ad stands in sharp contrast with Pennsylvania Republicans’ 2024 playbook. As NR has previously reported, a handful of Republican spending groups have pledged millions to juice the GOP’s vote-by-mail efforts this cycle. Trump has of course spent years criticizing mail-in-voting and still calls the 2020 election “rigged” during 2024 campaign rallies, but is now urging his supporters to cast their votes early and by mail this cycle to better compete with Democrats. Earlier this week, Donald Trump’s campaign sent a cease-and-desist letter to PA Values calling on them to take down the ad.
Hardball advertising tactics are common among Democrats, who spent millions in ads during the 2022 midterm cycle boosting fringe candidates in GOP primaries. But PA Values’ deceptive advertising is likely to come under tougher scrutiny this cycle, given how often progressives hurl the voter-suppression label at Republicans and the group’s extensive ties to Casey.
Federal Election Commission filings show that in 2018, PA Values ran ads against Casey’s Republican opponent Lou Barletta, thanks in part to a $100,000 contribution the PAC received in 2017 from Ross Feller Casey LLP, a law firm co-founded by the senator’s brother, Matt Casey.
Casey’s campaign is distancing itself from the PAC’s advertising strategy. “Senator Casey and his campaign encourage Pennsylvanians to use whatever method of voting is most convenient for them, including voting by mail,” Casey campaign spokeswoman Maddy McDaniel said in a statement to National Review. “We reject efforts of any kind to undermine confidence in mail-in voting.”
But the senator also has financial ties to the digital-advertising firm that created the ad. On June 16, PA Values paid $48,000 to GPS Impact for Trump-related advertising. FEC reports show that Casey’s campaign has paid GPS Impact more than $2 million for digital consulting, digital advertising, media production and other digital services since May 2018, including tens of thousands of dollars this year.
“No staff on the Pennsylvania Values account are involved in Senator Casey’s campaign, in accordance with GPS Impact’s firewall policy,” GPS Impact founding partner Roy Temple said in a statement to National Review.
That digital advertising firm also has ties to well-connected Democratic operatives. GPS Impact principal Tim Persico served as the executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) — House Democrats’ campaign arm — from December 2020 to January 2023, according to his LinkedIn page. And GPS Influence’s website describes strategic research partner Mike Gehrke as the Democratic party’s former “top opposition research strategist” with experience helping elect former President Barack Obama, as well as multiple U.S. senators and governors.
Casey’s opponent is crying foul. “Pennsylvanians are tired of the lies from Bob Casey and the Democratic Party,” said a spokeswoman for Pennsylvania Republican Senate nominee Dave McCormick. “This is blatant voter suppression, and we’re evaluating legal options to hold these dishonest activists accountable.”
The Trump campaign has also criticized the tactic. “This advertisement may constitute both a criminal and civil conspiracy to injure the rights of President Trump’s supporters to cast their ballots in Pennsylvania,” Trump campaign counsel David A. Warrington wrote in a letter to the PAC’s treasurer. “Cease and desist broadcasting, or otherwise distributing via the internet or elsewhere, this false advertisement immediately and preserve all relevant documents in anticipation of likely litigation.”
PA Values did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The PAC has ties to other high-profile Democratic candidates and committees extend beyond Casey. For example, PA Values has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent years to the Democratic firm Cabbage Hill Consulting, whose founder and current president, Jason O’Malley, is a former longtime senior adviser to the Democratic National Committee and CFO to the party’s 2016 Philadelphia host committee. FEC filings show that beyond PA Values, Cabbage Hill Consulting’s clients include the Democratic National Committee and representatives Chris Deluzio and Susan Wild.