Billionaire Governor Youngkin Launches a $20 Million PAC to Rescue His Party's House Candidates From Other People's Money

SPRINGFIELD — Governor Youngkin, one of the wealthiest men ever to hold a governorship, announced a new political action committee that will spend at least $20 million on his party's House candidates in districts he says the national party has ignored, with himself as chairman and his own campaign slogan as its name.

The first targets are two incumbents in other states, one facing personal allegations and one best known for an online video career, against whom the PAC has begun reserving television time. The governor's aides said the effort is about the map. Everyone else said it is about a presidential primary that is two years away and already accepting applications.

The Press's money desk observes that a billionaire personally funding the outcome of congressional races in states he does not live in is 'buying elections' when the other party's billionaire does it and 'investing in democracy' when yours does. Youngkin's party spent the same week denouncing the other side's billionaire donors, a message the PAC's own filings are expected to complicate.

Supporters noted that the governor's money is his own rather than a dark-money group's, which is true, and is also the exact defense offered by every self-funder of the modern era regardless of party.

At press time the PAC had a name, a chairman, a target list, and a television ad in which the chairman appears, which is a great deal of infrastructure for a man not running for anything.