Moxie Media is a Seattle-based political consulting firm that, year after year, continues to build a booming business from Democrats seeking political office and liberal groups seeking to trash Republicans through independent expenditure advertising.
It’s hard to believe, considering its long client roster, that less than four years ago Moxie Media was slapped with the biggest campaign finance fine in state history. This Throw Back Thursday, we’re taking a look into Moxie Media’s past… and its continued success thanks to liberal supporters who evidently don’t care much if the people they hire follow the law.
Moxie Media successfully implemented a Democrat coup of sorts during the 2010 election cycle. Backing Democrat Nick Harper (now a former state senator), Moxie Media engaged in a campaign scheme that, in the end, ousted the incumbent Democrat state senator in Everett.
Moxie Media’s elaborate scheme involved tactics that many said should have led to the firm’s demise. According to the Seattle Times, “Moxie shuffled money among shell committees during the 2010 primary to promote a little-known Republican and conceal the source of misleading robocalls and mailers against then-state Sen. Jean Berkey.” The Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) ultimately concluded that Moxie Media “violated state laws by not properly identifying funding sources.” Moxie Media was ordered to pay a total of $290,000 in fines and legal costs.
The scandal—and history-making fine—did not make a dent in Moxie Media’s reputation among Democrats. The Seattle Times wrote in 2012 that the campaign firm “landed some of the most coveted Democratic political contracts of 2012, grossing nearly $2 million for state-level consulting and direct-mail work, according to state Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) filings.” Especially impressive considering “that’s twice Moxie’s 2010 haul.”
The 2014 election cycle is no exception for Moxie Media’s “haul” from liberal clients across Washington State. A quick search PDC search reveals that Moxie Media’s clients include the inappropriately named Sensible Leadership for Whatcom, 28th District Citizens for Real Democracy, Eastside Integrity PAC, and Principled Leadership in the 30th LD – the Democrat front groups spending hundreds of thousands attacking Republicans and hiding donors.
As SHIFT recently reported, these same groups all take their orders from the New Direction PAC. The PAC — funded by California billionaire Tom Steyer and the who’s who of liberal special interests groups — is working to defeat (under the direction of Moxie Media) Sen. Doug Ericksen, Sen. Steve O’Ban, Sen. Andy Hill and Republican candidate Mark Miloscia via the use of phony named PACs. Democrat victories in these races would, once again, give the Democrats a State Senate majority that supports Tom Steyer and Jay Inslee’s extreme environmental (and tax-raising) agenda.
According to its website, Moxie Media clients now include a national lineup of liberal organizations—including the Washington State Democrats, Michigan Democratic Party, Connecticut Senate Democrats, League of Conservation Voters, Sierra Club, National Education Association, SEIU, Teamsters and AFL-CIO.
The story of Moxie Media’s scandal—and the firm’s subsequent success—is proof that, for Democrats and liberal organizations, illegal behavior is respected—and rewarded
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