Restoration News announced that new filings reveal Arabella Advisors’ affiliates provided over $1.5 billion in 2024 to groups that registered voters, funded legal initiatives, and supported policy campaigns in key swing states, including Arizona, Florida, and Wisconsin.
According to Restoration News, the Arabella network distributed significant funds through its entities. The New Venture Fund received $662 million, predominantly from anonymous donors, while the Sixteen Thirty Fund obtained $282 million. These funds supported organizations like America Votes, which was allocated $40.5 million for voter registration efforts in swing states. Floridians Protecting Freedom received $23.5 million for abortion-related campaigns in Florida. Other grants included $200,000 to Law Forward for gerrymandering and mail-in voting initiatives in Wisconsin and $19 million to the Clean Slate Initiative aimed at expunging records to enable felon voting.
Ballotpedia reported on Florida’s Amendment 4, the Right to Abortion Initiative, which garnered 6,070,758 yes votes or 57.17 percent but failed to achieve the necessary 60 percent threshold for passage. The initiative sought to limit government interference with abortion prior to fetal viability or when required for patient health. Floridians Protecting Freedom raised over $100 million for this campaign, with a notable contribution of $23.5 million from the Sixteen Thirty Fund.
The Brennan Center for Justice noted that dark money spending in the 2024 federal elections reached a record high of $1.9 billion compared with $1 billion in 2020. Democratic-aligned groups received approximately $1.2 billion in undisclosed contributions, nearly double the amount received by Republican groups at $664 million. Contributions from shell companies and nonprofits amounted to $1.3 billion directed towards super PACs.
Arabella Advisors is a Washington D.C.-based consulting firm founded by Eric Kessler in 2005. It provides strategy, advocacy, and management services primarily to left-leaning donors and nonprofits through its network of organizations including the New Venture Fund and Sixteen Thirty Fund.
