A coalition of progressive advocacy groups on Monday condemned suburban Philadelphia multibillionaire Jeffrey Yass for funding right-wing political groups and for spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in a bid to unseat a progressive congresswoman in far-away Pittsburgh.
Yass—who is Pennsylvania's wealthiest person—is a GOP megadonor with a history of funding political action committees (PACs) and other groups opposed to LGBTQ+ rights, abortion, unions, minimum wage increases, public schools, and raising taxes on the rich. He also has dodged $1 billion in taxes, according to a ProPublica investigation, and is reportedly on Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump's shortlist for treasury secretary.
"Yass prefers to be behind the scenes. So he contributes to dark money PACs and has helped sustain his own network of nonprofit organizations and PACs to distribute funds to candidates for office and issues," the #AllEyesOnYass campaign explained.
"People like Jeffrey Yass are not only a threat to democracy, but they create the conditions that allow for discrimination and violence to happen."
During the 2022 midterms, Yass gave $47 million to GOP candidates and committees, making him the third-biggest conservative political donor during that election cycle. He is on pace to obliterate that record this cycle, having already spent $46.4 million.
In addition to being the top Republican donor during the 2024 election cycle, Yass has also poured at least $1 million into a super PAC that aims to elect so-called "moderate" Democrats. The Moderate PAC—which is funded exclusively by Yass—last week released an ad promoting Bhavini Patel, a Democrat running for Congresswoman Summer Lee's (D-Pa.) House seat.
"Jeff Yass—a billionaire who tries to privatize our public schools, evades paying his taxes, funds elected officials who supported the January 6 insurrection, and just this week, pledged support for Trump—should not be allowed to buy our election," said Steve Paul, co-executive director of the progressive advocacy group One Pennsylvania.
"From this congressional seat to the Pennsylvania Legislature to the U.S. presidency, we will resist Yass' corporate authoritarian power grabs," he added.
Miracle Jones, legislative director of coalition member 1HoodPower, said: "For the last few years, we have been fighting to make this region livable for all of us. Pittsburgh was deemed the worst livable city for Black women. Is it any surprise that a billionaire who made his money off of our exploitation is trying to stop us from electing champions who advocate for what our communities need to thrive and be safe?"
"When Republican billionaires spend money to buy politicians who do not have our community's needs at the center of the work, then people like Jeffrey Yass are not only a threat to democracy, but they create the conditions that allow for discrimination and violence to happen," Jones added. "Rest assured that we won't let him prevail in our quest to build a better world for our community."
