The pro-Trump group America PAC, which was founded by the billionaire Elon Musk, has cut ties with a canvassing firm in two battleground states, just seven weeks before Election Day.
- Share full article
Elon Musk has been intimately involved in America PAC’s operation, with plans to donate as much as $180 million to back the Trump effort.
With just seven weeks until Election Day, America PAC, one of the most ambitious, well-funded groups supporting former President Donald J. Trump’s campaign, has switched up its ground game in Arizona and Nevada, two states pivotal to his re-election bid.
The super PAC, which was founded by the billionaire Elon Musk, has cut ties with the canvassing firm it hired to knock on hundreds of thousands of doors and turn out Republican voters. The super PAC’s leadership decided in recent days to replace that firm, the September Group, according to three people with knowledge of the move.
The firm had about 300 paid canvassers combined working on behalf of America PAC in those states, according to two of the people. But the PAC felt the group was not reaching enough voters quickly enough, the people said. The PAC has increased the number of doors it hopes to hit, according to the third person, reflecting the group’s belief that the switch will allow it to scale up and help Mr. Trump in the long run.
Arizona and Nevada are especially difficult for political canvassers working in the summer, given the daytime heat. The firm had knocked on about 250,000 doors in Arizona and about 150,000 doors in Nevada during its three-week engagement.
America PAC plans to try to rehire as many of the canvassers as possible, one of the people said, although it is unclear how many of them will stay under the new management. Some of the canvassers in Nevada, for instance, are already planning to work this week for a different candidate in the state, Sam Brown, the Republican candidate for Senate, said two of the people.
Still, there is precious little time before the election for these changes: Arizona begins early voting on Oct. 9, and Nevada voters can cast ballots as soon as Oct. 19. The super PAC has not been knocking on doors over the past few days in the two states, as the group tries to rebuild its field infrastructure there, two of the people said.
We are having trouble retrieving the article content.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
Source: nytimes.com
