Citizens For A Working America, Shadowy GOP Group With Roots In Virginia, Ohio, And Kentucky, Targets S.C. Democrat
Few people in politics, beyond a tight cadre of Republican strategists, have ever heard of the outfit Citizens for a Working America. That’s because the benignly-titled political action committee didn’t formally exist until this September. Even if you were compelled to learn more about the organization, there wasn’t much you would find. The group’s no-thrills website describes it as “an unwavering advocate of those principles that together form the bedrock of American prosperity: free markets, economic growth, and job creation.” There is, quite literally, nothing else.
The group’s federal forms manage to reveal only slightly more. According to the Federal Election Commission, Citizens for a Working America filed its statement of organization on September 10, 2010. Because it occurred so recently, the group has not been obligated to list donors or expenses. Those will come with the next filing in mid-October, two weeks before the November elections.
And yet, with literally no information about its finances, platform, funders or purpose, Citizens for a Working America still seems poised to have a major impact in at least one congressional contest. According to a Democratic ad tracker, the organization has purchased more than $250,000 in airtime for South Carolina’s 5th congressional district. The target of the ads will be Rep. John Spratt (D-S.C.), the proverbial dean of the South Carolina delegation who has served in Washington for 28 years. And as it stands now, no one, not even the Spratt campaign, understands why.
Here’s what Opensecrets has on the group