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A conservative political network with financial ties to billionaire Elon Musk helped fund efforts to get independent presidential candidate Cornel West on state ballots during the 2024 election, according to a new investigation.
The findings, published Monday (October 26) by Sludge, shed new light on the financial backing behind West's candidacy, which Democrats feared could draw votes away from Kamala Harris and help Donald Trump win the presidency.
West, a prominent Black scholar and progressive activist, ran on a platform focused on racial justice, economic equality and opposition to U.S. military intervention.
During the election, Democrats raised concerns that West could serve as a spoiler candidate in competitive states. The Associated Press separately reported that groups with Republican ties in Virginia, North Carolina and Arizona were working to help West secure ballot access.
Now, nonprofit tax records reviewed by Sludge reveal how millions of dollars flowed through organizations connected to those efforts.
People Over Party, a nonprofit that helped finance petition drives supporting West's ballot access, reported approximately $7.7 million in revenue in 2024.
According to Sludge, all of that money came from Interstate Priorities, another nonprofit that received $10.1 million that year from Building America's Future, a conservative dark money organization.
The $10.1 million represented Interstate Priorities' entire reported revenue for 2024.
The Wall Street Journal previously reported that tens of millions of dollars flowing through Building America's Future in 2022 came from Musk. However, the newly examined records do not establish that Musk personally provided the money used to support West's ballot-access efforts.
Sludge also identified connections between the nonprofits and political consultants involved in Musk's efforts to elect Trump.
Ray Zaborney, an Interstate Priorities director, also serves as treasurer of Future Coalition PAC, a super PAC funded largely through contributions from Building America's Future.
His consulting firm, Red Maverick Media, has received approximately $1.7 million from Musk's America PAC, primarily for political mailers, according to federal campaign finance records cited by Sludge.
The financial disclosures add to earlier questions about outside involvement in West's candidacy.
In July 2024, the Democratic National Committee filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging that ballot-access work performed on West's behalf, including efforts involving People Over Party, amounted to illegal, unreported campaign contributions. The complaint represented allegations, not established findings of wrongdoing.
People Over Party has previously denied coordinating with West's political organization. In 2024, an attorney for the nonprofit said its petition-gathering efforts in North Carolina were conducted independently of Justice for All, the party seeking to place West on the state's ballot.
West ultimately received approximately 82,644 votes nationwide, or about 0.05% of the popular vote.
While the newly examined tax records establish financial connections between the organizations, they do not demonstrate that West knew about the funding arrangements or coordinated with Musk's political operation.
According to Sludge, People Over Party, Interstate Priorities and Building America's Future did not respond to requests for comment on the latest findings.
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