DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Joe Wiederien was an unlikely candidate to challenge a Republican congressman in one of the nation’s most competitive House districts.
A fervent supporter of former President Donald Trump, Wiederien was registered as a Republican until months earlier. A debilitating stroke had left him unable to drive. He had never run for office. For a time, he couldn’t vote because of a felony conviction.
But he arrived last month at the Iowa Capitol with well over the 1,726 petition signatures needed to qualify for the ballot as a conservative alternative to first-term Republican Rep. Zach Nunn. After filing the paperwork, he flashed a thumbs up across the room at an operative he knew only as “Johnny.”
Several other unorthodox candidates have emerged across the country — all backed by the same shadowy group, the Patriots Run Project.
For the past year, the group has recruited Trump supporters to run as independent candidates in key swing districts where they could siphon votes from Republicans in races that will help determine which party controls the House next year, an Associated Press review has found. In addition to two races in Iowa, the group recruited candidates in Nebraska, Montana, Virginia and Minnesota. All six recruits described themselves as retired, disabled — or both.
The group’s operation provides few clues about its management, financing or motivation. But interviews, text messages, emails, business filings and other documents reviewed by the AP show that a significant sum has been spent — and some of it traces back to Democratic consulting firms.
While dirty tricks are as old as American elections, the efforts this year could have profound consequences in the fight to control Congress, which is expected to be decided by a handful of races. It’s also not an isolated example: allies of Trump have been working across the U.S. to get liberal academic Cornel West on the ballot in hopes he could play spoiler in the presidential election.
“At that time I was thinking, well, it would be nice to be in Congress and get to work with President Trump,” Wiederien, 54, reflected in an interview.
