Dem candidates bankrolled by 'defund the police donors' targeted by House GOP

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The House GOP is setting its sights on a handful of Democratic candidates who have been bankrolled by left-wing billionaires whose money has also gone toward promoting what Republicans call "soft-on-crime" policies.

At least eight Democratic House candidates who have positioned themselves as left-of-center or moderate have received donations from the same wealthy liberals who poured thousands into promoting progressive crime policies in states like California and Florida, campaign finance records show.

All eight are also running in competitive districts, making them prime targets for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), the House Republicans’ campaign arm.

"Defund the police donors backed up the Brink’s truck to bankroll the campaigns of extreme House Democrats," NRCC spokesman Will Reinert told Fox News Digital. "If elected, these far-left Democrats will work hand in hand with San Francisco liberal Kamala Harris to send violent crime rates soaring, reward felons and punish cops for trying to keep communities safe."

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Republicans are ramping up their election messaging on crime and law enforcement support. (Getty Images)

Among the eight is Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kan., one of the most vulnerable Democrats this election cycle — the most recently available campaign finance data shows Davids received $3,300 in April from Quinn Delaney, a California billionaire who runs the nonprofit Akonadi Foundation.

The Akonadi Foundation committed $12.5 million to an Oakland-based initiative whose goals include closing youth prisons and taking police officers out of schools, according to its website.

Delaney also spent hundreds of thousands to help elect progressive Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon, whose progressive reforms have been accused of making residents feel less safe during his tenure.

Delaney along with California megadonor Patty Quillin were named as two of four billionaires who "channeled $22 million toward criminal justice ballot measures and allied candidates the previous two years," Politico wrote in 2021.

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Quillin and her husband, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, also donated $1 million to support a California measure to end the cash bail system and replace it with a risk-based assessment.

Recent campaign finance records show Quillin donated $3,300 to Will Rollins, a former prosecutor running against Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif.

Delaney and Quillin also both gave $3,300 to Adam Gray, who is running to unseat Rep. John Duarte, R-Calif.

Gray, a former state lawmaker, has also received two $6,600 checks from Django Bonderman and Cale Bonderman respectively, both of whom donated significantly to support a 2018 Florida ballot initiative to grant most felons the right to vote.

Rep. Sharice Davids received a donation from Django Bonderman, a member of the billionaire Bonderman family. (Getty Images)

Django Bonderman is also linked to Mountain Philanthropies, which Influence Watch has classified as a left-wing dark money group that has supported causes promoting leniency in criminal justice.

Campaign finance records show the Bondermans have also donated similar amounts to George Whitesides, who is running against Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Calif.; Laura Gillen, who is challenging Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, R-N.Y.; Monica Tranel, who is challenging Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont.; and former House Rep. Mondaire Jones, who is running to unseat Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y.

The Bondermans have also donated $3,300 each to Oregon state Rep. Janelle Bynum, who is challenging Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore.

Django Bonderman has given small amounts to more moderate members of the House GOP as well, giving $1,000 each to Reps. Dave Joyce, R-Ohio, and Steve Womack, R-Ark., in late June. 

A spokesperson for Womack said he returned the donation.

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"Voters have to remember what happened when George Soros funded all of those left-wing DAs," John Feehery, a former aide to ex-Speaker Dennis Hastert and current partner at EFB Advocacy told Fox News Digital.

"Crime spiraled out of control. The same principle applies to these candidates. They will do what the billionaires want and the results won’t be pretty."

Feehery argued there was a dissonance between such Democrats running more moderate campaigns while accepting funds from progressive sources. "They can try, but voters know where their bread is buttered," he said.

Rep. Steve Womack, a Republican from Arkansas, also got a donation from Bonderman, but Womack said it was returned. ( Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Crime and perceptions of public safety are likely to play a critical role in suburban districts where Republicans have hammered big-city Democrats as soft on crime. 

Democrats, particularly in competitive districts, have sought to dispel those arguments during this election cycle.

Both Gray and Rollins have touted campaign endorsements from local law enforcement in their areas. Gray has support from both the district attorney and the sheriff of Merced County, while Rollins is endorsed by the Palm Springs Police Association.

"As a former federal prosecutor with the support of local law enforcement, I understand more than most that defendants should be detained if they're a danger to our communities, that Prop 47 needs to be repealed so that cops aren't put in the position of rearresting the same people for theft crimes again and again, and that our police officers need all of the support they can get to keep our families safe," Rollins told Fox News Digital. "I believe no one is above the law and that we should fund both local police and federal law enforcement."

He also knocked rival Calvert for once claiming the FBI was "infiltrated" by "rot" and for House GOP proposals, not led by him, that would have seen funding cut to various law enforcement offices.

Tranel, meanwhile, told Fox News Digital, "Over half of my donors are from Montana, while only 7% of Zinke’s contributions came from Montanans. If we're going to talk about donors, let's look at Ryan Zinke, who took money from a company controlled by the Chinese Communist Party that has bought up US farmland and voted to make it harder for Montana ranchers to compete with China and drive up the cost of living. Montanans deserve a representative who stands up for them, not one who continues to exploit Montana for their own personal profit."

Republicans are seeking to make crime a central focus of this election, including former President Trump, who made remarks on the issue Tuesday afternoon. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Zinke's campaign pointed out that Tranel also received donations from Jonathan Soros and his wife, adding, "Ryan Zinke continues to outperform perennial failed candidate Monica Tranel in every aspect of this campaign. Talk about a liberal afraid to be truthful to voters, she refuses to acknowledge that her top client wants to defund the police, she refuses to answer questions about her support for her VP nominee who let criminals burn Minneapolis to the ground, and her presidential nominee who tried to bail them out of jail."

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"And on the point of Tranel’s statement — Congressman Zinke is the only person in this race who has actually taken action against the Chinese buying farmland, whereas Monica Tranel is pushing American’s reliance on Chinese-made solar, wind and EVs," the campaign added.

In Oregon, Bynum previously touted her support for recriminalizing fentanyl possession after the state’s controversial decision to ease drug penalties, which has since been reversed.

"Voters can see right through the NRCC’s weak falsehoods for what they are: a lame attempt to hide the fact that it’s only been House Republicans who’ve voted for cuts to cripple local law enforcement and make our communities less safe, all while rewarding their convicted felon presidential nominee," Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) spokesperson Viet Shelton told Fox News Digital.

The remaining candidates did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.