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Arizona's Sen. Kelly takes corporate-backed PAC cash despite condemning 'corporate PAC money': filings

Kelly has repeatedly pledged to not accept "corporate PAC" money, despite accepting more than $150,000 from corporate-backed PACs

July 25, 2022 9:15am

Updated: July 25, 2022 5:43pm

Arizona Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly has taken over $150,000 from corporate-backed PACs despite repeatedly pledging that he would not, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

Kelly, a former astronaut seeking 2022 reelection, has repeatedly pledged to not "take a dime of corporate PAC money." However, FEC filings, reviewed by the Daily Caller, show that he has accepted about $154,000 in Democratic PAC money since he launched his campaign in March 2019. 

FEC documents show that over the past three years Kelly's campaign has accepted $20,000 from the Green Mountain PAC, which is affiliated with Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, who has accepted nearly a quarter of a million dollars since 2005 from corporate PACs.

Kelly's campaign has also received $17,500 from Nutmeg PAC, which has taken more than $230,000 dollars in more than a decade from Microsoft, Comcast, Raytheon Technologies, Pfizer, Honeywell and other corporations, filings show.

The senator also accepted over $30,000 from Frontline USA, a PAC connected to Democratic California Rep. Adam Schiff, who records show has accepted more than $110,000 from PACs for Raytheon, Boeing, Comcast, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman since 2010.

He has tweeted about not taking "corporate PAC" money nearly 50 times, the Daily Caller observed.

Kelly, who replaced late Sen. John McCain in a special election, is in a hotly contested seat ahead of the 2022 midterms.