Key Points
Representative Chris Jacobs abandoned his re-election bid after supporting an assault weapons ban in the wake of the Buffalo and Uvalde mass shootings.
The open Republican primary in western New York pitted state party chair Nicholas Langworthy against Carl Paladino, who was backed by Representative Elise Stefanik.
A new political committee, American Liberty Action PAC, spent nearly $1 million against Paladino in the three weeks leading up to the vote.
The influx of PAC money proved pivotal in Langworthy’s narrow victory.
Mass Shooting and a Sudden Collapse
Representative Chris Jacobs entered 2022 planning to seek another term in New York’s newly drawn 23rd Congressional District. That plan lasted just one week.
On May 27, days after mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, Jacobs announced that he would support new gun restrictions, including a ban on assault-style weapons. “If an assault weapons ban bill came to the floor that would ban something like an AR-15, I would vote for it,” he told reporters.
The response from his own party was swift. County Republican leaders who had endorsed Jacobs rescinded their support, signaling they would back a challenger. With his standing inside the party eroding, Jacobs concluded he could not win. On June 3—exactly seven days later—he announced his withdrawal, saying, “It would be an incredibly divisive election, and I don’t think it’s in the best interest of the Republican Party to have that fight.”
His exit left a safe Republican seat suddenly without an incumbent.
2022 NY-23 Republican Open Primary
The race quickly narrowed to two figures. Nicholas Langworthy, then the chair of the New York State Republican Party, entered with the backing of county organizations and party leadership. Carl Paladino, a Buffalo developer and former Republican nominee for governor, launched his own campaign with support from Representative Elise Stefanik, the No. 3 House Republican, who declared on social media, “I am proud to announce my endorsement of my friend Carl Paladino in NY-23.”
Speculation swirled that former President Donald J. Trump might follow suit, but his endorsement never came. Trump’s silence was notable. Paladino was one of his most vocal supporters in New York, but Langworthy, as state party chair, had worked to keep the Republican organization aligned with Trump while avoiding his more divisive tactics.
The primary soon became a proxy battle over the party’s future in western New York. Langworthy embodied the institutional wing — cautious, message-disciplined, intent on rebuilding the party’s statewide credibility. Paladino represented the insurgent side: confrontational, populist, and eager to pull the party closer to Trump’s style of grievance politics.
Local Republicans described the race as less about issues than about identity. Was the party to remain an organization grounded in traditional conservatism, or would it embrace the combative tone that had come to define the Trump era?
The Dark-Money PAC
Three weeks before the August 23rd primary, a new super PAC materialized. On July 28, 2022, the American Liberty Action PAC registered with the Federal Election Commission.
All of its funding came from a single source—the American Prosperity Alliance, a Virginia-based nonprofit organized under section 501(c)(4) of the tax code. Such nonprofits are not required to disclose their donors, leaving the source of the money unknown.
The structure matched a familiar pattern in campaign finance circles: a “pop-up” PAC created shortly before an election, financed through an opaque nonprofit, and dissolved soon after the election.
Mechanics of a Pop-Up PAC
Pop-up PACs operate in a gray zone of campaign finance.
They are often formed just weeks before an election, leaving little time for scrutiny.
Their funding frequently originates from “social welfare” nonprofits that do not disclose donors.
They typically dissolve soon after the election, leaving behind little more than expenditure reports.
This structure allows donors to influence key races while keeping their identities hidden until long after the ballots are cast.
In the three weeks between its formation and the Republican primary vote, the PAC spent just over $1 million—$946,757 opposing Paladino and $92,869 supporting Langworthy. The money flowed through Republican-aligned firms such as Medium Buying, FlexPoint Media, and Arena Communications, specialists in last-minute ad blitzes.
Many of the ads drew attention to Paladino’s history of inflammatory statements, including his praise of Adolf Hitler as a “great speaker,” his suggestion that the Buffalo supermarket shooting was a “false flag,” and his remark that Attorney General Merrick Garland “should be executed.”
Party officials distanced themselves from Paladino. “Embarrassing,” several described him to City & State New York. Langworthy told reporters after the primary, “I think voters spoke loudly and clearly that they want a serious legislator, not someone that says outlandish things on cable news.”
The American Liberty Action PAC ceased financial activity the following February and was later terminated.
The Outcome
Nicholas Langworthy’s rise from New York Republican party chair to U.S. Congressman rested on two converging events: the sudden implosion of a sitting Republican incumbent and the late arrival of a well-financed but opaque super PAC.
The American Liberty Action PAC’s concentrated spending against Paladino—funded by undisclosed donors—helped shape a race decided by fewer than 2,000 votes.
It was one of several 2022 primaries in which a pop-up PAC sought to steer the GOP away from far-right nominees seen as risky in general elections. In western New York, it may have determined who sits in Congress today.
References
OpenSecrets.org. “American Liberty Action PAC — Independent Expenditures, 2022.”
Federal Election Commission (FEC). “Statement of Organization: American Liberty Action PAC (C00821652).” Filed July 28, 2022.
Buffalo Toronto Public Media (WBFO). “Dark-Money Group Spends Nearly $1 Million in NY-23 Republican Primary.” August 2022.
City & State New York. “Langworthy Defeats Paladino in Bitter GOP Primary.” August 24, 2022.
Media Matters for America. “Carl Paladino Praised Adolf Hitler as an ‘Inspirational’ Leader.” June 2021.
The Buffalo News. “Rep. Chris Jacobs Ends Campaign After Supporting Assault Weapons Ban.” June 3, 2022.
Brennan Center for Justice. “The Rise of Pop-Up Super PACs.” May 2022.
OpenSecrets.org. “Dark Money Basics: How 501(c)(4) Nonprofits Influence Elections.”
