A well-heeled nonprofit linked to a conservative legal activist who is both credited and criticized for the rightward tilt of the U.S. Supreme Court made a significant donation to a Maine-based political action committee this spring.
The $50,000 donation from The Concord Fund, formerly known as the Judicial Crisis Network, appears to be the first publicly disclosed contribution to a Maine PAC from the group, which is associated with a network of nonprofits connected to Leonard Leo, the chairman of the Federalist Society. While it’s unclear whether the donation signals additional contributions to Maine conservative political groups, it comes amid Leo’s new, national effort to beat back what he views as liberal dominance in society and his stated goal of countering liberal activists’ increasing use of well-funded nonprofits that can shield the identities of donors to influence state-level politics and legislation.
A spokesperson for Leo did not respond to a request for comment, but the legal activist’s profile in Maine has increased over the past several years. Leo has owned a home on Mount Desert Island since 2018. In 2019 he hosted a fundraiser for Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ reelection campaign that drew protests from liberal activists. Subsequent protests there over Leo’s efforts to reshape the U.S. Supreme Court led to a lawsuit filed by a Bar Harbor man who claims police violated his constitutional rights when they arrested him outside of Leo’s home. (Leo says the man was acting aggressively toward his wife and young daughter). And in a recent interview with a Maine conservative website, Leo defended using so-called dark money groups — nonprofits that can conceal funding sources — to advance right-of-center causes.
Leo offered a similar assessment in May to the New York Times when asked to comment on the $182.7 million given to conservative groups over the course of a year by Marble Freedom Trust, a nonprofit he founded in 2020.
“It’s high time for the conservative movement to be among the ranks of George Soros, Hansjörg Wyss, Arabella Advisors and other left-wing philanthropists, going toe-to-toe in the fight to defend our Constitution and its ideals,” Leo told the Times.
As it turns out, The Concord Fund was one of the largest recipients of Marble Freedom Trust’s donations. The Concord Fund received $28.9 million last year, according to tax filings. Campaign finance reports filed with the Maine Ethics Commission show The Concord Fund donated a total of $50,000 to For Our Future, a political action committee run by local conservative activist Alex Titcomb. Titcomb is also involved in the Dinner Table Action, a leadership PAC for Republican state Rep. Laurel Libby of Auburn, drawing more than half million dollars in contributions from conservative donors and activists since 2021.
Titcomb describes Dinner Table Action as “the largest, most active, conservative grassroots organization in the state” and he believes its success is what helped draw new donors to the linked For Our Future PAC.
“Due to that success, it drew attention of (a) variety of new donors and organizations that value the work we are doing here in Maine to advance limited government, free enterprise, personal responsibility and individual liberty,” Titcomb said in an email responding to an inquiry about The Concord Fund donation. “If we followed these principles, we would experience a freer society here in Maine. I look forward to continuing to build greater connections with any person or organization that values what we are doing here in Maine to further aid in our mission or vision.”
Titcomb declined to say whether further donations from The Concord Fund or affiliated groups were forthcoming. He also declined to elaborate on the “mobilization and consulting strategies” For Our Future paid to Ignite Strategies LLC this spring. According to corporation filings, Titcomb is also the registered agent for Ignite Strategies LLC.
The $27,000 in expenditures to Ignite Strategies came amid a tumultuous legislative session marked by a pitched battle waged by anti-abortion activists as they fought to defeat L.D. 1619, Gov. Janet Mills’ abortion expansion proposal. Libby was one of the most vocal critics of the bill and frequently present during demonstrations against it.
The effort to defeat the bill failed, but anti-abortion groups have floated the possibility of organizing a people’s veto campaign to overturn the law at the ballot box. Titcomb said it’s unclear whether For Our Future will be involved in such an effort if one moves forward.
Nevertheless, the donation from The Concord Fund will no doubt increase speculation that Maine politics could become further influenced by virtually untraceable cash between liberal and conservative interests.
The Judicial Crisis Network, which is now an alias of The Concord Fund, had unparalleled influence over the current composition of the federal judiciary. It spent $10 million supporting the nomination of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and another $3.1 million backing the nomination of Justice Brett Kavanaugh, according to an analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice. It has since pivoted under its new name, The Concord Fund, to other conservative causes and could go toe-to-toe with liberal dark money groups that have attempted to influence Maine politics.
A notable example came in 2019 when a network of liberal nonprofits attempted to unseat Collins, in part by highlighting her confirmation vote for Justice Kavanaugh. Subsequent tax filing showed that the group bankrolling that effort, The Sixteen Thirty Fund, spent about $4.2 million in grants to Maine-based groups, including $3.8 million to the group leading an “education campaign” designed to weaken Collins.
People’s veto?
Although they ultimately failed to defeat it in the Legislature, opponents of the abortion expansion bill, LD 1619, demonstrated a remarkable ability to turn out a huge number of like-minded individuals on fairly short notice.
The question now is whether they will try to overturn the bill at the ballot box through Maine’s “people’s veto” process. Such a campaign would be no easy feat given the inevitable opposition from well-funded abortion rights groups such as Planned Parenthood.
Opponents of LD 1619 have until Wednesday, Aug. 9, to file an application with the secretary of state’s office for a people’s veto referendum. After that, they would have just 80 days to collect 67,682 signatures from registered Maine voters in order to qualify for the ballot.
Two groups seemingly best positioned to lead such a campaign are the Christian Civic League of Maine, which has deep connections inside Maine’s religious right community, and the relatively new group Speak Up For Life. Both groups helped organize the opposition to LD 1619, including the hundreds of people who turned out for a public hearing that lasted more than 19 hours.
Libby, who's involved in the Dinner Table Action PAC mentioned above and who also leads Speak Up For Life, said Thursday that there have been “ongoing conversations with stakeholders” about whether to launch a people’s veto campaign.
Libby acknowledged the financial challenge of going up against the deep pockets of the abortion rights lobby but added that is not the only factor.
“There is a lot to consider,” Libby said.
Similarly, Mike McClellan with the Christian Civic League of Maine said there has been no decision within his organization about whether to challenge the abortion expansion law at the ballot box. But McClellan said the large crowds at the State House for weeks demonstrated the strong passions on the issue.
And there’s no telling how the issue would play out if it did go to referendum. While polls suggest that a strong majority of Maine residents support protecting abortion access, that support could soften when presented with the question of whether abortions should be allowed in the final months of a pregnancy whenever a doctor deems it to be medically necessary, compared to the previous standard, which was only to protect the life or health of the mother.
The bill only passed the House on a vote of 73-69, despite the 12-seat majority held by Democrats.
Collins won’t support Trump this time around
Maine’s congressional delegation had a largely muted response to this latest indictment of former President Trump. The only exception was 1st District Democratic U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, who said “at long last, our nation sees a possibility of accountability for Donald Trump.”
One interesting sidenote is that Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins is making it clear that she’s not going to vote for Trump no matter what comes out of the indictments and related trials.
A spokeswoman for Collins told the Portland Press Herald that Maine’s senior senator will not support Trump during either the GOP primary race or if he ends up as the nominee against President Joe Biden.
Back in April, WABI television also reported Collins making the following statement after Trump’s arraignment that month:
“I have already made clear that President Trump is not my choice for the Republican nomination,” Collins said. “I think we have many outstanding candidates — Nikki Haley, Asa Hutchinson, Tim Scott — all of whom I know well. Chris Christie — there are a lot of choices out there. And my hope is that my party will choose one of those excellent choices.”
Collins received a lot of national attention in 2016 when she announced she wouldn’t support Trump’s bid for the presidency. But she declined to say how she would vote in 2020 during Trump’s first matchup with Biden as she was in the middle of her own reelection campaign against a very well-funded Democrat.
Collins subsequently voted to convict Trump during his Senate impeachment trial over his involvement in the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol.
Maine's Political Pulse was written this week by chief political correspondent Steve Mistler and State House correspondent Kevin Miller, and produced by digital editor Andrew Catalina. Read past editions or listen to the Political Pulse podcast at mainepublic.org/pulse.
