This story has been updated. See below.

Last week, Democratic Majority for Israel, the pro-Israel super PAC, canceled its spending in Nebraska’s Second Congressional District only a week ago amid controversy that its intended beneficiary had disavowed support from all Israel-focused outside groups.

But that has not stopped money from flowing into the district. Pro-Choice Majority 2026, a political action committee quietly formed in December 2024. The treasurer of Pro-Choice Majority 2026 listed in its statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission is Jay Petterson, who is also listed as the treasurer for DMFI PAC. Both forms use the same email address for Mr. Petterson.

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Outside groups have pummeled Cavanaugh and uplifted Powell in the Nebraska race, a swing seat in and around Omaha which Democrats see as winnable after five-term Republican Don Bacon announced his retirement. According to campaign finance documents, independent expenditures totaling $3.265 million have been spent supporting Powell and attacking Cavanaugh in the race. Cavanaugh has benefited only from a small ad buy from the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC for $272,000.

The Pro-Choice Majority 2026 ad buy in the Second District is approximately $242,000, split between support for Denise Powell and opposition to state Sen. John Cavanaugh. The spots were placed by Symmetry Media, the ad agency that is also working with Elect Democratic Women in the Second District. After press time, an adviser to Pro-Choice Majority 2026 called it a “sister PAC” to Elect Democratic Women. The ads began running yesterday, for the last week of the May 12 Democratic primary.

These links are meaningless, DMFI and the Powell campaign says. Petterson is a compliance consultant who serves as treasurer for a wide array of different Democratic entities. He makes no strategic decisions for DMFI or other outside groups, DMFI communications officer Rachel Rosen said.

But Rosen went a step further, saying that “DMFI PAC has not transferred any money to any organization related to NE-02—or to any outside organization at all—this cycle.”

That appears to conflict, at least in spirit, with internal documents.

DMFI had planned to run ads in the district under its own name starting on April 27. But Powell has repeatedly said that she would not accept money from any PAC involving the issue of Israel, including in statements to the Prospect. Once those statements emerged, DMFI canceled its ad buy, though $659 in spots did accidentally run on a small cable station. The ad campaign was transferred to New Democrat Majority PAC, which upped its ad buy at the same approximate level as DMFI’s. Internal documents at local television stations said, “Cancel spending for DMFI PAC and moving money to New Democratic Majority.”

It is certainly possible that DMFI did not explicitly transfer the money into New Democratic Majority. But that was the impression that local stations got, and the rise and fall of the numbers for the various PACs are virtually identical. While federal election law prohibits explicit coordination between candidates and outside expenditure groups, implicit coordination is rampant. And federal law is silent on coordination between two separate Super PACs.

Rosen was asked whether local stations were incorrect about transfers between DMFI and New Democratic Majority, why they would be mistaken on that point, whether there was any coordination between the two groups, and why New Democratic Majority raised their ad buy at precisely the level that DMFI dropped theirs. There was no response.

The final sources of cash for New Democratic Majority, Pro-Choice Majority 2026, DMFI and other PACs will eventually have to be disclosed, but not until after the Nebraska primary is over. Some individual donations for Pro-Choice Majority 2026 have been disclosed, but only through the end of March.

“Voters across the district are being inundated with ads from Powell’s Trump-backed allies trying to win this district for her,” Katie Bartizal, campaign manager for John Cavanaugh, said in a statement. “And because Powell promised not to take their money, they’re doing it in secret and trying to trick voters … John is standing up to the billionaires and special interests who know his vote is not for sale.”

The use of coordinated shell PACs to hide support from pro-Israel groups was a feature of several House primary elections in Illinois, where groups like Elect Chicago Women and Affordable Chicago Now stood in for United Democracy Project, the super PAC of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). In the end, four candidates received support from pro-Israel PACs, one directly and three through these shell PACs. AIPAC won two and lost two.

Controversial Pro-Israel PAC Launders Spending Through Another PAC

Powell, a political strategist and small businesswoman who has the support of the centrist New Democrat Coalition, has been highly specific in calling for outside support in a “red box” on her campaign website, including providing what looks like ad copy, dictating how much saturation the ads should have on broadcast television and radio, and explaining what demographics of Democrats should see them.

The talking points are all focused on Cavanaugh’s alleged threat to the “Blue Dot,” which refers to Omaha’s ability to send one electoral vote to a Democrat despite the state voting Republican. (Nebraska, like Maine, authorizes each of its individual congressional districts to cast one Electoral College vote for the presidential candidate who carries that district.) “If Cavanaugh wins, the governor would appoint his replacement to the legislature,” one ad running in the district states, “creating a MAGA supermajority to eliminate the Blue Dot, helping Republicans keep the White House, ban abortion, and gut voting rights.”

Nebraska’s unicameral legislature already has a Republican supermajority, yet has been unable to pass legislation eliminating the Blue Dot or banning abortion. Nebraska Democrats are contesting multiple winnable seats this year in the legislature with national funding support, and are likely to pick up at least one to offset a potential Cavanaugh departure in the expected Democratic wave.

UPDATE: This story has been updated after responses from the Powell campaign and DMFI, along with additional information.

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David Dayen is the executive editor of The American Prospect. He is the author of Monopolized: Life in the Age of Corporate Power and Chain of Title: How Three Ordinary Americans Uncovered Wall Street’s Great Foreclosure Fraud. He co-hosts the podcast Organized Money with Matt Stoller. He can be reached on Signal at ddayen.90.