Newly formed super PAC spent $8.5M targeting Republicans before midterms: Report
WASHINGTON, DC: A new super PAC called Our Heritage Matters poured over $8.5 million into the last weeks of the 2026 midterm elections, backing Libertarian candidates and going after Republicans. Andrew Kaczynski at CNN dug into the PAC’s campaign finance trail and found it spending money in 35 House and Senate races. Their strategy was to flood voters with robocalls, text messages, and political mailers that painted Republican candidates as not conservative enough.
Digging deeper, CNN uncovered two other groups involved: American Forge Coalition and Patriotic Duty Initiative. On the surface, these groups looked separate, but corporate paperwork and election filings all traced back to Mike McCauley, an accountant in Salt Lake City. As for the money behind this operation, where it really comes from is still a mystery.
Super PAC targeted Republicans while promoting Libertarian candidates
Our Heritage Matters burst onto the scene just a few weeks before Election Day, spending over $8.5 million on 35 congressional races. Their ads targeted Republicans, claiming they’d abandoned conservative stances on abortion, gun rights, and immigration. At the same time, they pushed lesser-known Libertarian candidates as a new option.
In Ohio’s 10th Congressional District, the group sent texts touting Libertarian Thomas McMasters as a strong supporter of Second Amendment rights and urging people to vote for him. When it was all over, Democrat Kristina Knickerbocker edged out Republican incumbent Mike Turner by 4,938 votes. McMasters picked up 8,906.
McMasters told CNN he hadn’t known about the spending blitz. He didn’t mind the messages, as long as they accurately reflected his views, but insisted that any campaign aiming to help Knickerbocker should’ve made that motive clear.
“I had no idea any of this was going on in the background,” said Thomas McMasters, who ran as a Libertarian in Ohio’s 10th District and who was routinely praised in a series of text messages paid for by Our Heritage Matters.
South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District saw a similar push. Libertarian William Reeside picked up 5,351 votes, thanks in part to a campaign that branded him as an “America First” conservative. In the end, Democrat Nancy Lacore beat Republican Jenny Costa Honeycutt by 3,352 votes.
The same group spent over $850,000 targeting Republican Senator Roger Marshall in Kansas and another $567,000 going after Republican Ashley Hinson in Iowa. They also spent to boost Libertarian candidates in both races. Democrats won both Senate seats, and their victory margins were larger than the total votes Libertarian candidates pulled in.
Records link three groups to same accountant
CNN found clear links between all three organizations and McCauley. Corporate records show he set up American Forge Coalition and Patriotic Duty Initiative in Delaware on May 19. Later, when Our Heritage Matters registered as a super PAC with the Federal Election Commission on October 15, just 19 days before Election Day, McCauley appeared as its treasurer.
When it came to reporting independent expenditures, Our Heritage Matters pointed to two Delaware companies formed on October 6. Chase Grove LLC accounted for about $7.1 million, mostly spent on digital ads. Good Way Associates showed up for roughly $1.4 million, covering political mail, texts, and phone ads.
American Forge Coalition and Patriotic Duty Initiative, both set up as nonprofits aiming for 501(c)(4) status, haven’t released similar details about their election spending. Their finances remain much less transparent than the super PAC's.
McCauley didn’t reply to CNN, and the three organizations also stayed silent. CNN found a common link between them, but the records don’t reveal if they coordinated, shared donors, or used the same vendors or strategists.
The super PAC won’t have to reveal its donors until December 3, so voters had no idea who funded its campaign before heading to the polls. The total spending by all three groups and the people backing them still isn’t public.
