Democracy PAC logged every gift on one day in June with a note blaming software. Its newest filing shows $500,000 going to Fight Back MD, the committee backing Question 3.
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews
Democracy PAC, the super PAC funded by George Soros and organizations he created, disclosed $122 million in contributions in a single filing with Maryland election officials in June. The contributions were received by the national PAC, and the Maryland filing does not establish that those funds were designated for, or spent in, Maryland elections. Every dollar carries the same date, June 2, 2026. The money actually arrived over a span of nearly two years, according to notes the committee attached to each entry.
On that same day, the filing shows, the committee sent $1.5 million to an account tied to the Working Families Party. Three weeks later, a Working Families-backed candidate beat a 19-year incumbent in the Baltimore County state’s attorney primary.
The committee’s newest report, filed Oct. 16, shows another $500,000 sent on Oct. 14 to Fight Back MD, the ballot committee campaigning for Question 3, the constitutional amendment on congressional redistricting.
The filing does not say what the $1.5 million was for. It does not say whether any of it was spent in Maryland. What it does give is a timeline, and the timeline is worth laying out.
What the filing says
“Every dollar carries the same date, June 2, 2026.”
Democracy PAC (Maryland Filer ID 16020247) is registered as a participating organizations committee, the category Maryland uses for certain 527, 501(c)(4), and 501(c)(6) groups that make political disbursements. Its Statement of Organization was signed June 3 and approved June 4, 2026. That makes the 48-hour report, filed June 4 at 5:02 p.m. and covering June 2, the committee’s first. Michael Vachon is listed as both principal officer and treasurer, and signed the report under penalty of perjury. FactCheck.org describes him as a former Soros adviser, and InfluenceWatch described him as a Soros spokesman as of June 2026.
The report lists four donations, all dated June 2. Each carries a note saying the money was really received earlier and that “due to software issues” it had to be entered under the June date to make it onto the report.
- $10 million from Fund for Policy Reform, 300 Bellevue Parkway, Wilmington, Del. Noted as received Sept. 20, 2024.
- $10 million from Geosor Corporation, 250 W. 55th St., New York. Noted as received Sept. 19, 2024.
- $52 million from Geosor Corporation. Noted as received Jan. 2, 2025.
- $50 million from Fund for Policy Reform. Noted as received Jan. 13, 2026.
Together, that is $122 million. FactCheck.org reports that about half of Democracy PAC’s federal money this cycle came from Geosor, which it describes as a private investment company Soros has long owned. The other half came from Fund for Policy Reform, which it describes as a nonprofit Soros founded as part of the Open Society Foundations.
A late-looking filing is not necessarily a violation. The committee had only just registered in Maryland. The state’s rules for participating organizations require a first report to reach back two years from the filing date, and donors who give $10,000 or more must be identified. A catch-up report of this kind is what the rule calls for. The state’s trigger for registering is more than $6,000 in political disbursements in an election cycle, not the size of a group’s fundraising. The $1.5 million transfer on June 2 is the only expenditure on the first report, and the Statement of Organization was signed the next day. The transfer went to a national PAC account, so the records do not establish that it was itself the Maryland disbursement that triggered registration. The records do not show whether Democracy PAC made earlier disbursements in Maryland.
Where the numbers line up, and where they don’t
“That has room for one $10 million gift, not two.”
The two largest gifts match federal records. The FEC shows Democracy PAC took in $102 million in individual contributions between Jan. 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026. The itemized records show the same two gifts with the same dates the Maryland notes give: $52 million from Geosor Corporation on Jan. 2, 2025, and $50 million from Fund for Policy Reform on Jan. 13, 2026.
The two September 2024 gifts are a different matter. The Maryland filing says $20 million came in on Sept. 19 and 20 of that year. Democracy PAC’s federal reports tell a smaller story, according to ProPublica’s FEC Itemizer. The quarter ending Sept. 30, 2024, shows total receipts of $10,875,147.68. The pre-general and post-general reports show $0 in receipts, and the year-end report shows $6,052.16. Everything the committee reported receiving from July 1 through Dec. 31, 2024, adds up to about $10.88 million. That has room for one $10 million gift, not two.
Two other possible explanations are not supported by the records reviewed. The committee’s sister group, Democracy PAC II, reported only $720,381 in receipts for all of 2024, per ProPublica, so the money is not there either. And Fund for Policy Reform’s large 2024 gift, $60 million in the first quarter, according to Bloomberg and Fox News in April 2024, falls before the two-year window the Maryland report must cover, which opens in June 2024. That is why it does not appear. The Maryland report’s own aggregate column for Fund for Policy Reform is $60 million, which equals only the $10 million and $50 million entries.
There may be a simple clerical explanation. The committee already told the state its dates were scrambled by a software problem. But nothing in the filing explains the gap. A difference between reported totals is not proof of inaccurate reporting, and the original and amended 2024 FEC filings would need to be checked transaction by transaction.
The $1.5 million
The report’s only expenditure is a $1.5 million electronic transfer on June 2 to “WFP National Pac – Non-Contribution Account,” with a Brooklyn address. The filing lists the category as transfers out to other Maryland treasurers.
The FEC’s itemized records for Democracy PAC show a matching transfer: $1.5 million to the Working Families Party PAC in Brooklyn, dated June 2, 2026, the same day and amount. The same federal records list three earlier transfers to that committee: $1 million on Sept. 9, 2025, $2 million on Jan. 16, 2026, and $2 million on May 28, 2026, for $6.5 million in all through June 2. The Banner and Spotlight Delaware figures below are lower, and the arithmetic suggests why, though neither report says so. The $3 million the Banner cited equals the Sept. 2025 and Jan. 2026 transfers, and the $5.5 million Spotlight cited equals the three 2026 transfers. The FEC lists the Working Families Party PAC as a hybrid PAC with a non-contribution account. The Baltimore Banner described that committee as Brooklyn-based.
| Democracy PAC transfer to Working Families Party PAC | Amount |
|---|---|
| Sept. 9, 2025 | $1,000,000 |
| Jan. 16, 2026 | $2,000,000 |
| May 28, 2026 | $2,000,000 |
| June 2, 2026 | $1,500,000 |
| Total | $6,500,000 |
“They are not all Maryland spending.”
These are transfers to the group’s national committee. They are not all Maryland spending, and the $1.6 million the group reported in Maryland, described below, is a separate number: independent expenditures, meaning money spent to influence elections, not money paid to candidates.
Here is what the public record says about that group’s Maryland activity at the time:
- The Banner reported on June 4 that the Working Families Party PAC had spent $737,373 on mailers and commercials backing Sarah David against Scott Shellenberger, nearly four times what David’s own campaign had spent in the primary. The group’s own records, described below, match that figure to the dollar for spending dated through May 28.
- The Banner also reported that no outside group had spent more in Maryland this year, and that Democracy PAC had given the Working Families PAC $3 million. Spotlight Delaware put that figure at $5.5 million by Aug. 31.
- Shellenberger criticized out-of-state groups for weighing in. “I just think that’s wrong,” he told The Banner. David distanced herself from the PAC’s activity.
- David won the June 23 Democratic primary with 52% to Shellenberger’s 27%, according to unofficial returns reported by The Daily Record. Lauren Lipscomb finished third with about 21%.
The Working Families Party PAC’s own Maryland independent expenditure records, downloaded Oct. 17, give the full count. They list $1,280,721.18 in spending supporting Sarah David between May 14 and June 15, mostly direct mail through Berlin Rosen of New York ($576,364 across all of its Maryland races) and TV through Admire Media of Chicago ($550,650). The same records show $236,433.83 supporting Wanika Fisher in the Prince George’s County state’s attorney race and $92,343.42 supporting Will Jawando for Montgomery County, with smaller amounts for other candidates, including a few from earlier years. The group’s total reported Maryland spending in 2026 is $1,611,893.87.
The timing is worth setting beside Democracy PAC’s federal records. They show $2 million sent to the Working Families Party PAC on May 28 and $1.5 million on June 2, after the group’s David spending had begun May 14.
None of those records tie the $1.5 million to the David campaign. The filing is silent on that, and this article does not claim otherwise. A voter looking at the dates, though, can see that a Soros-funded committee sent seven figures to the Working Families Party’s non-contribution account three weeks before the June 23 primary, in the middle of the Working Families Party’s largest Maryland spending effort, and that the public paperwork describing it arrived two days later with an explanation about software.
The $500,000 to Fight Back MD
Democracy PAC’s second Maryland report covers June 3 through Oct. 14. It was filed Oct. 16 at 9:29 a.m. and signed by Vachon. It lists no donations and one expenditure: a $500,000 wire transfer on Oct. 14 to “Fight Back MD,” categorized as a transfer out to another Maryland treasurer. The report does not say what the money is for.
State records identify the payee. Fight Back MD (Filer ID 16020303) is a ballot issue committee whose Statement of Organization was approved July 31 and amended Aug. 18. It lists its position as “Support” on a ballot issue it describes as “clarifying state and federal districting standards.” Thomas Matzzie is listed as chairman and Gloria Lawlah as treasurer. The committee’s address is 711 W. 40th St., Suite 330, in Baltimore, and its public email is at fightbackmd.com.
Fight Back MD’s own reports show where its money came from before the Democracy PAC transfer. Its first report, covering July 30 through Aug. 18, listed $618.50 in contributions and $30.59 in spending. Its Oct. 9 report, covering Aug. 19 through Oct. 4, listed $686,575 in net contributions, $4,488.44 more in in-kind contributions, $41,214.31 in expenditures and a bank balance of $645,948.60. The balance reconciles with an opening balance of $587.91 from the first report. The report is 37 pages and itemizes 270 monetary contributions. The largest sources were:
- AFSCME Working Families Fund: $500,000, listed as a transfer contribution on Sept. 28. The Maryland reports reviewed do not say where that fund got the money.
- National Democratic Redistricting PAC: $45,000 on Sept. 21, plus $4,488.44 in in-kind texting services on Oct. 1.
- Debra Efroymson of New York, listed as retired: $50,000 on Aug. 20.
- David Ehrenfest Steinglass of Washington, D.C.: $25,000 on Aug. 21. Ashish Patel of Carlisle, Pa., listed as self-employed: $25,000 on Aug. 25.
- Thomas Matzzie, the committee’s chairman: $25,000 on Oct. 2. The report lists his employer as CleanChoice Energy.
“The $500,000 from the AFSCME Working Families Fund made up about 73% of the net contributions reported through Oct. 4.”
One more donor gave $10,000, Mark Joseph of Baltimore, listed as retired, on Sept. 22. The other 264 monetary contributions, mostly credit card gifts of $5 to $250, totaled $6,580. The $500,000 transfer is reported separately from the 270 monetary contributions, and a $5 refund brings the net total to $686,575. By that count, the $500,000 from the AFSCME Working Families Fund made up about 73% of the net contributions reported through Oct. 4.
WYPR reported Sept. 8 that Gov. Wes Moore and Senate President Bill Ferguson back the Fight Back MD committee. The Banner described it Oct. 9 as “a committee backed by state Democrats,” and quoted spokesman Luca Amayo saying it is spending “six figures” on texts, mailers and a 30-second ad for TV and streaming. Neither the Banner nor Maryland Matters, which covered a Sept. 25 rally for the question, reported who funds the committee in the pieces reviewed here. The transfer came 20 days before the Nov. 3 election.
State records describe the AFSCME Working Families Fund (Filer ID 8015385) as an out-of-state, non-federal committee registered in the District of Columbia. Its Statement of Organization was approved Feb. 11, 2025, and amended Sept. 24, 2026, when the listed treasurer changed from Elissa McBride to Nicole R. Pollard. Two of its Maryland reports are in the records reviewed. The one covering May 13 through June 7 lists $142,500 in payroll-deduction lump sums, and the one filed Aug. 25 covering June 8 through Aug. 18 lists $96,250. In each report, the same amount went out to Maryland candidate committees, including $6,000 to Wes Moore For Maryland on Aug. 7, and the ending balance was $0. The total to date was $418,500 in both receipts and spending. Both reports predate the Sept. 28 transfer. These are the only two reports from the fund in the State Board’s records as of Oct. 17, so the Maryland filings reviewed do not identify the source of the $500,000. The fund is registered in Washington, and its receipts may appear in other jurisdictions’ records.
The fund also files federally as a political organization with the IRS. ProPublica’s 527 Explorer, which compiles those Form 8872 reports, describes it as a fund of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. It lists $15.9 million in contributions and $10.5 million in expenditures for 2026 through its second-quarter report, which covers April through June 30. Over its history, the largest contributors on the site are AFSCME International and AFSCME. Those figures end before the Sept. 28 transfer, so they do not show which money paid for it.
Spending through Oct. 4 was small next to the money raised. The largest payees were Adeo Advocacy at $17,645.71 for fundraising services, listed at the same Baltimore address as the committee, then Boon Strategy LLC at $6,000, Third Rail Public Affairs at $4,500, Pivot Group at $4,356.20, and the Law Office of Andrew Herman at $3,500. Spokesman Luca Amayo’s “six figures” for texts, mailers, and ads would therefore fall mostly after the period the Oct. 9 report covers.
The timing sits between two state reporting deadlines. The Oct. 9 report covers Aug. 19 through Oct. 4, which predates the Democracy PAC transfer. Their next report is due Oct. 23, covering Oct. 5 through Oct. 18, according to the State Board of Elections’ 2026 schedule. Early voting begins Oct. 22 and runs through Oct. 29. Democracy PAC’s Oct. 16 filing publicly disclosed the transfer before Fight Back MD’s next scheduled report and before early voting begins.
“Early voting begins Oct. 22. The next report is due Oct. 23.”
Fight Back MD has released a poll showing 40% support, 35% opposed and 25% unsure, according to the Banner, which noted the poll was conducted by a firm that polls for Democrats. Amayo said support rose to 53% after respondents heard positive messaging.
What Question 3 does
Question 3 is a constitutional amendment, HB 2100, sponsored by the Speaker of the House. The House passed it 96-38 and the Senate 32-13, both on Aug. 4, during a special session that began Aug. 3. Gov. Wes Moore signed it Aug. 5 as Chapter 881, and it takes effect only if voters approve it. As described by Conduit Street, the Maryland Association of Counties’ news site, the amendment would clarify that certain constitutional requirements apply only to state Senate and House of Delegates districts, and would allow the General Assembly to give the Supreme Court of Maryland original jurisdiction over congressional redistricting plans. It would not redraw any district itself. The Supreme Court of Maryland kept the question on the ballot Sept. 3 after two circuit courts ruled against it, but ordered the ballot language rewritten.
The Supreme Court’s rewritten ballot language includes the line “providing that nothing in the Maryland Constitution provides applicable criteria” for congressional districts, WYPR reported. Federal requirements would remain, and the General Assembly would still have to adopt a new map for any district to change. WYPR reported that the amendment would end the application of current compactness and adjoining-territory rules to congressional maps, and that a Democratic map would loop more Democratic voters into the district of Rep. Andy Harris, the state’s only Republican member of the U.S. House. WYPR also reported that the Democratic-leaning map the House passed was not taken up in the Senate and is not expected to affect the 2026 election.
Republicans oppose the amendment. State Sen. Bryan Simonaire said, “Gerrymandering is the ultimate form of voter suppression,” according to WYPR. Democrats say voters should decide.
What the records do and do not show
Democracy PAC is financed by Soros and Soros-created organizations, according to FactCheck.org. The Maryland report shows it gave $500,000 to the committee backing Question 3. Fight Back MD’s Oct. 9 report does not list Democracy PAC, because the transfer came after the report’s Oct. 4 cutoff. It lists the AFSCME Working Families Fund as the source of a $500,000 transfer on Sept. 28, which is the same amount. The two transfers are separate entries in separate filings, and nothing reviewed here links them. Together, the two filings report $1 million in transfers to Fight Back MD, one disclosed by the committee as received and one so far disclosed only by the sender. The records do not establish a financial connection between the two sources. This article does not report that Soros personally funds Fight Back MD, and the Oct. 23 report is the first that should show whether the Democracy PAC money arrived.
“Together, the two filings report $1 million in transfers to Fight Back MD.”
What to watch
- Whether Democracy PAC files an amended report or explains the September 2024 dates, which match neither its federal reports nor Democracy PAC II’s.
- Whether the State Board of Elections or the committee clarifies the use of the $1.5 million.
- Fight Back MD’s Oct. 23 report, covering Oct. 5 through Oct. 18, which should show the Democracy PAC $500,000 and any other large gifts. Through Oct. 4, the committee’s largest reported source was the AFSCME Working Families Fund at the same amount, so Democracy PAC’s gift cannot be called the largest until the new report is in.
- Further 48-hour reports from Democracy PAC as the Nov. 3 general election approaches.
MDBayNews previously reported on Working Families Party money in Maryland politics in “Before the Endorsement: Jawando’s Senate Committee Gave $115,000 to Working Families Party PAC,” published April 9.
Sources: Maryland State Board of Elections, Campaign Finance Reports for Fight Back MD (Filer ID 16020303), 2026 Pre-General 1 Gubernatorial (filed Aug. 25, 2026) and 2026 Ballot Issue Gubernatorial (filed Oct. 9, 2026), and its Statement of Organization amended Aug. 18, 2026; ProPublica, 527 Explorer, AFSCME Working Families Fund (EIN 91-2064198); Maryland State Board of Elections, Campaign Finance Reports for AFSCME Working Families Fund (Filer ID 8015385), 2026 Pre-Primary 2 Gubernatorial and 2026 Pre-General 1 Gubernatorial (filed Aug. 25, 2026), and its Statement of Organization amended Sept. 24, 2026; Maryland State Board of Elections, Campaign Finance Report for Democracy PAC (Filer ID 16020247), 48-Hour Report filed June 4, 2026, and its Statement of Organization approved June 4, 2026; InfluenceWatch, “Michael Vachon” profile; Maryland State Board of Elections, Campaign Finance Summary Guide, Chapter 6, section 6.3 on participating organizations; Maryland State Board of Elections, Democracy PAC 48-Hour Report filed Oct. 16, 2026, and Fight Back MD (Filer ID 16020303) Statement of Organization approved July 31, amended Aug. 18, 2026; Maryland Association of Counties Conduit Street, “Md. Supreme Court clears redistricting question for November ballot,” Sept. 4, 2026; WYPR, “What’s next for Maryland’s bitter congressional redistricting fight,” Sept. 8, 2026; Federal Election Commission itemized receipts (Schedule A) and disbursements (Schedule B) for Democracy PAC, exported Oct. 17, 2026; Federal Election Commission committee pages for Democracy PAC (C00693382) and Working Families Party PAC (C00606962); ProPublica FEC Itemizer, Democracy PAC October quarterly filings; FactCheck.org, “Democracy PAC/Democracy PAC II,” Aug. 7, 2026; Sapna Bansil and Céilí Doyle, Baltimore County state’s attorney coverage, The Baltimore Banner, July 6, 2026; Pamela Wood, “Pro-redistricting ballot question ads hitting airwaves, phones and mailboxes,” The Baltimore Banner, Oct. 9, 2026; William J. Ford, Maryland Matters, Sept. 25, 2026; Bill Allison, Bloomberg, April 15, 2024, and Andrew Mark Miller, Fox News, April 16, 2024, on the $60 million Fund for Policy Reform gift; ProPublica FEC Itemizer, Democracy PAC II (C00786624) 2024 filings; Maryland State Board of Elections, 2026 Gubernatorial Reporting Schedule; WMAR, “Maryland Board of Elections highlights secure ways to vote in 2026 general election,” for early voting dates; Maryland General Assembly, HB 2100 (2026) bill history; Sapna Bansil, “Fresh off Mamdani win, progressive group pours $737K into Baltimore County race,” The Baltimore Banner, June 4, 2026; Karl Baker, “National progressive group reveals $455K Delaware campaign, but donors unclear,” Spotlight Delaware, Aug. 31, 2026; “Sarah David beats Scott Shellenberger for Baltimore County state’s attorney,” The Daily Record, June 2026.
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