By Tim Oren
…Goes Down…
While the RINO-loving Idaho Statesman gasps in horror that an Idahoan legislator would put some of his own money to work helping other conservative candidates, it turns a blind eye to the labyrinthine funding flows behind its favorites. Fortunately, I’m here to correct that oversight!
The Sankey diagram below is only a sampling of the cash flows involved in the big spending, illegal-loving end of the ‘Republican’ party. You might want to open it in a separate tab or window, as I’ll refer to it frequently.
Starting at the left edge, I’ll focus on the largest outside-Idaho funding sources feeding this network. Way Back PAC is the biggest. It’s nominally based in Sheridan, Wyoming, but a little research (thanks, Grok!) comes up with the background:
- It is headquartered at a virtual/mail-drop address but is run from the D.C. area. Jonah Meyers runs the PAC through his consulting firm Blue Moon Strategies LLC (Silver Spring, MD). Meyers previously worked at Arabella Advisors. Way Back PAC functions as a pass-through vehicle in a larger progressive philanthropic/dark-money ecosystem rather than being directly controlled by a single parent organization. Key funders include:
- Western Futures Fund, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit also created and operated by Jonah Meyers/Blue Moon Strategies. It shares the same Sheridan address. Western Futures Fund has received millions from the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a major 501(c)(4) in the Arabella Advisors network, a prominent progressive dark-money umbrella often funded by left-leaning philanthropists.
- Toolbox functions as a donor vehicle for contributions to various PACs, Democratic-leaning causes, and state-level political efforts. It is closely linked to Rockefeller family members and the Rockefeller Family Fund.
- Guardian of Rights Fund is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit/private foundation formed around 2022, primarily functioning as a donor vehicle for political and advocacy grants. As a tax-free NGO, it’s not supposed to be supporting candidates.
- Global Impact Social Welfare Fund, Inc. Supports climate/environment, justice reform, global health, voter rights, economic development, and racial/gender equality.
In practice, money often flows: large progressive donor vehicles → Western Futures Fund / Sixteen Thirty Fund network → Way Back PAC → targeted PACs, candidates, or independent expenditures (sometimes in crossover or primary races)
That sounds like just the kind of money we want influencing Idaho Republican primaries!
The other large non-Idaho funding source on the left side is LCV Victory Fund, whose site states: “LCV Victory Fund and its affiliated entities have been one of the biggest players supporting pro-climate, pro-democracy candidates in the country–up and down the ballot.” Again, sounds like a great fit for conservative Idaho Republicans!
…and Around…
Most of the money in the RINO network flows through intermediate PACs, many of which are façades with the majority of cash coming from a single ‘donor’. Way Back PAC is pushing its funding through the ‘Defend and Protect Idaho’, ‘Hometown Heroes’, and ‘Idaho First’ PACs. ‘PAC for Public Lands’ is a façade for LCV Victory Fund and an Idaho developer.
The in-state network is organized similarly. Idaho Victory Fund is Brad Little’s affiliated PAC, with contributions from many industry and political RINO supporters – the largest are shown. Its funding flows out through Idaho Liberty PAC, a façade created for this election cycle, and the Idaho Majority Club, a decade-old PAC founded by the losers of the conservative takeover of the Treasure Valley Republican party. Idaho Prosperity Fund is IACI’s captive PAC.
This layering of pass-through entities attempts to obfuscate the actual path of influence. A dairy farm’s donation might flow through, for instance, the Idaho Dairy Industry PAC, the Idaho Victory Fund, and Idaho Liberty PAC, before ending up paying for a mailer supporting Jim Guthrie. Do we think he’s ignorant of where it originated?
The value of this information hiding may be eroding, however. AI is making it easy to trace connections among organizations via required disclosures – as with my Grok session above. Secrecy by obscurity may be waning, which may eventually threaten the layers of consulting and management fees and commissions generated by the influence network.
…and It Comes Out Here.
We’re in the final days of the primary campaign, when campaigns and their fellow travelers saturate ‘Low Information Voters’ with simple, massified messaging meant to get them to the polls, including last minute smears. The printing and mailing, media and Internet advertising budgets balloon. Now is when most of the PAC money is expended. Here’s one result:
The Sankey diagram above is a snapshot, the totals have certainly escalated since I created it. And it’s also a subset: It’s impossible to show all the candidates involved, so I’ve settled on one high-profile incumbent, and a sampling of PAC-backed challengers to conservative Republicans.
The incumbent is Jim Guthrie, the IACI and RINO goalie who keeps the illegals bills out of the net. The funding supporting him and attacking Worley is massive. Compare it to the total value of most of the PACs.
I’ve picked a sampling of RINO challengers to conservative incumbents to illustrate how the IACI and out-of-state cash, laundered through façade PACs, supports their campaigns. Idaho influencers use pass-throughs to hide their attacks. As an example, St. Luke’s is sparing with direct donations to challengers, only two in my last run through SOS Sunshine. But they, and many others, heavily fund Idaho Liberty PAC, the 2026 façade for Idaho Victory Fund. Idaho Liberty PAC has funded attacks on the majority of the Gang of 8, plus other conservatives. The only incumbent they’ve supported is – you guessed it! – Jim Guthrie.
Note the extensive support for opponents of conservatives from the Idaho REALTORS PAC. That’s the one with 90% anonymous donations. I guess they want to keep illegals building houses so they can sell them.
For the activity of the out-of-state PACs driven by leftist dark money, I’m simply going to refer to Glenneda Zuiderveld’s recent Substack post. She starts with a rebuttal of one specific attack by Defend and Protect Idaho PAC, but then dissects their funding and ties to Idaho RINOs.
Who’s going to decide the future of Idaho? PAC money or citizens? Get out and vote and take your friends and neighbors. I’ll be working the polls this Tuesday, but will return with a wrap-up and post-mortem.
Afterward
The subtitles refer to this 90-year-old classic. It somehow fits with convoluted cash flows and RINOs tooting their horns.
Disclosure: Everything in these columns has been based on publicly available data. The numbers are the numbers, but I make no pretense to neutrality. These are my House primary donations charted on the 2026 session map:
In addition to two donations in races with no incumbent: Ferch (22A) and Johnstone (26B).
And in the Senate:
That’s Guthrie under the ‘opposed’ circle – he needs to go.
About Tim Oren
Tim Oren retired to Idaho after a 30 year career in Silicon Valley. Here he gardens, home-brews, teaches kids to shoot, and has applied his well-aged statistics degree to subjects such as educational funding and results, Idaho legislative race targeting, and now legislators' voting patterns. He is a contributor to the Idaho Freedom Foundation and a number of Idaho candidates.
