By Harshawn Ratanpal for OpenSecrets.
Broadcast version by Nadia Ramlagan for West Virginia News Service reporting for the OpenSecrets-Public News Service Collaboration

The race to replace Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has heated up since the 76-year-old moderate announced he won't be running for reelection.

Outside groups have spent $4 million on the Republican primary since Manchin's Nov. 9 announcement, more than triple what they spent in the seven months before. In total, super PACs have spent over $5.1 million on the race so far.

Rep. Alex Mooney and West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice are both running for the Republican nomination. The general election was ranked a toss-up by the Cook Political Report before Manchin's exit but has since turned into a solid red seat, meaning the winner of the Republican primary is favored to win the general election too. While there have not been any polls since Manchin's announcement, the latest from Emerson College predicted in October that Justice would outperform Mooney.

Last week, a previously inactive super PAC called Defend American Jobs dropped $1.5 million into the race on a media buy for Justice. The group raised $4.7 million last year, according to OpenSecrets' analysis of a campaign finance disclosure filed Jan. 29. Coinbase and Ripple Labs, two cryptocurrency companies, each contributed $1.5 million. Another $1.5 million was contributed by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.

Defend American Jobs is affiliated with Fairshake, a Florida-based crypto-focused super PAC that has spent money supporting both Democrats and Republicans in over a dozen House races across the country late last year. On Jan. 31, Fairshake disclosed to the Federal Election Commission that it had $67 million on hand at the start 2024. The group gave $150,000 to Defend American Jobs last year.

Fairshake's website says it "supports candidates committed to securing the United States as the home to innovators building the next generation of the internet," and Axios reports an operative of the group says it supports candidates who are "pro-innovate, pro-responsible regulation, pro-crypto, pro-blockchain technology."

The only public action or statement by Justice regarding cryptocurrency seems to be in 2017, when the then-Democrat Justice signed a bill into law that defined cryptocurrency and made it illegal to use it to launder money in West Virginia.

Despite the recent spending surge for Justice, Mooney has received more support from super PACs in total. Since April, groups have spent $2.7 million supporting the five-term representative or opposing the governor, with $1.6 million of that spent between Manchin's November announcement and the end of 2023.

Conservative advocacy group Club for Growth is the top spender boosting Mooney with $2.1 million supporting him or opposing Justice. The group announced last July that its super PAC and the Protect Freedom PAC had raised more than $13 million to support Mooney's bid for Senate.

Mooney is also endorsed by the Senate Conservatives Fund, which has spent $220,000 supporting him.

Justice has attracted much less super PAC support, especially before Manchin dropped out. Before November, the only outside spending supporting Justice was $75,000 from More Jobs, Less Government, a super PAC that has primarily spent money on races in Montana. Its top donor last election cycle was the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC dedicated to electing Republicans to the House of Representatives.

After Manchin's announcement, Justice garnered support from the Conservative Americans PAC, a group that received millions from conservative dark money groups ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. The Conservative Americans PAC was called a "pop-up" super PAC in 2022, as it launched shortly before many races, allowing it to forgo disclosing its donors until after multiple primaries. The group spent $883,000 supporting Justice and opposing Mooney in the last two months of 2023.

Justice's campaign committee raised more money than Mooney's during 2023. But by the end of the year, Mooney had more money on hand than Justice because he transferred over $1 million from his House campaign committee. If Justice needs more cash, he could dip into his own wealth, which he did in both his 2016 and 2020 runs for governor.



Harshawn Ratanpal wrote this story for OpenSecrets.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Carnegie Corporation of New York.


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As Los Angeles starts to recover from the firestorm, people are looking for ways to harden their homes against future mega-blazes.

Experts said the massive destruction from the Palisades and Eaton fires has some people discouraged, thinking there is nothing they can do to defend their homes.

Michele Steinberg, wildfire division director for the nonprofit National Fire Protection Association, said in fact, homeowners can significantly reduce their risk.

"Home survival is down to making sure that the exterior of the home cannot carry ignition," Steinberg explained. "By that we mean non-combustible roofing, siding, good windows that aren't going to crack under heat."

The home ignition zone is the five-foot area around your structure, so anything within the perimeter, including decks, porches, and fences, needs to be made of non-combustible material. Screens on vents work to prevent embers from being sucked up into the home.

California's statewide building code is considered one of the strongest in the country. It specifies how buildings should be designed and maintained and how they should be sited with appropriate defensible space. Steinberg added the state helps people find fire-safe materials.

"They actually list products that meet those standards," Steinberg pointed out. "You can actually find manufacturers and people that have provided those products on the California State Fire Marshal's website."

Experts also cautioned against putting dry wood mulch or climbing vegetation up against the house.


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Coloradans with low bank balances would be on the hook for an extra $225 a year if Congress votes to roll back a new rule capping overdraft fees at $5. Fees had been as high as $35.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the agency behind the new rule, recently lost its offices and all of its 1,700 workers as the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, informally run by SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, went to work remaking the federal government.

Christine Chen Zinner, senior policy counsel at Americans for Financial Reform, said the bureau is critical for protecting American consumers.

"This is a law enforcement agency that protects everyday people when financial institutions cheat and defraud them," Chen Zinner explained. "In the short 14 years that it's been around, it has already recovered $21 billion for everyday people."

The bureau was set to regulate X, Musk's social media site, as it rolls out financial transactions similar to PayPal and Venmo. After workers were sent home, Musk posted "CFPB RIP." The financial industry also disagrees with the agency over what it called aggressive policing of wrongful home foreclosures and credit reports, fraudulent credit card charges and predatory junk fees.

The agency's fate could be decided in federal court. Nearly 77 million people voted for Trump.

Nearly 77 million people voted for Trump, and Andrea Kuwik, policy and research director for the Bell Policy Center, said many did so in part because they were struggling to make ends meet and believed a new administration would help bring down costs. She noted the bureau was set up precisely to protect people's pocketbooks and savings.

"There are a lot of folks that are struggling," Kuwik emphasized. "This entity has a proven track record of saving people money. Getting rid of that I think is counterproductive."

The 2008 subprime mortgage crash which led to the Great Recession showed what is at stake when financial institutions operate without real oversight. Zinner believes a strong and independent consumer protection agency which does not have to bend to the whims of politicians is essential.

"We simply can't have a fair market unless there is a strong enforcement agency there to enforce those laws and protect people," Zinner contended. "The Trump administration is now giving all sorts of financial companies a green light to defraud and gouge their customers."

Colorado's members of Congress could split over the issue. Senators Michael Bennett and John Hickenlooper have previously expressed support for the CFPB's work. But the House delegation is more mixed. Representative Lauren Boebert, and other Trump allies, are expected to support the rollback of the overdraft safeguard, while Representatives Jason Crow and Joe Neguse are likely to oppose it. A big unknown is Representative Gabe Evans, a Republican who won in a tough district.

Policy analysts have been sounding the alarm on the Department of Education's ability to reach and engage with low-income, disadvantaged and older student loan borrowers in Nevada and around the country.

With massive layoffs at the agency and the sunsetting of the Biden administration's income-driven repayment plan, the efforts will only get harder.

Sarah Sattelmeyer, education, opportunity and mobility project director for the progressive think tank New America, said the department recently closed applications for all income-driven repayment plans and it has left borrowers looking for answers and resources.

"Right now, there are a lot of things going on in terms of slashing federal workers, slashing contracts, sort of rethinking and pulling money out of programs," Sattelmeyer pointed out. "It is hard to serve people when you cut staff and resources in a system that is already underfunded. "

Biden's Saving for a Valuable Education plan, which offered millions of borrowers lower monthly payments and a shorter timeline for repayment is among the programs stuck in limbo. President Donald Trump has expressed disdain for the plan and is unlikely to extend it. A report by New America found the current situation can be especially unsettling for borrowers over 60, who are often caregivers for family members.

Tia Caldwell, a former analyst for New America, noted when older borrowers are approaching retirement age and are still having to repay their college debt, it can mean tough choices between paying their loans or covering everyday essentials. She emphasized if borrowers fall behind on their loans, the government can garnish their wages and even withhold some of their Social Security benefits.

"This affects more than just the individual, because they are very embedded with their community," Caldwell explained. "We see that it looks like around 85% of older borrowers have children and so of course if your parent is losing their tax refunds or having their Social Security garnished, that is going to affect you too."

Caldwell stressed older borrowers are parents, caregivers and supportive members of their communities. She and others at New America are calling on the federal government to streamline the process for loan forgiveness when higher-ed institutions close or borrowers become disabled. They also encouraged the government to keep income-driven repayment plans and limit harsh penalties for those who default.


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