Our Hudson PAC is a left-of-center political action committee based in New York City. It was formed in July 2022 and opposed the candidacy left-wing Democratic congressional candidate and State Senator Alessandra Biaggi (D-NY). In August 2022 the PAC spent $159,470 sending out mailers opposing Biaggi, who ran in the 2022 Democratic primary against U.S. Representative Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY), the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) in the 2022 election cycle.

Background

Our Hudson PAC incorporated on July 6, 2022. ¹ Its website has very little information other than a statement indicating that it supports “an experienced leader with a record of delivering for our communities” to fight the “extremist Republicans.” ² Our Hudson PAC is listed as a liberal super PAC by left-leaning campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets. ³

In August 2022 Our Hudson PAC sent out direct mail opposing left-wing 2022 congressional candidate and New York State Senator Alessandra Biaggi (D), indicating that Biaggi does not support the police and plays “divisive politics.” ⁴ Biaggi was a left-wing Democratic candidate who challenged Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Representative Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) in a primary election. ⁵ The New York Daily News indicated that the Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York described Biaggi as an “anti-police extremist.” ⁶

Financials and Donors

According to the Federal Election Commission website, Our Hudson PAC received a $50,000 donation from Sucro Sourcing LLC, a sugar refinery in Coral Gables, Florida, on August 1, 2022, and a donation of $300,000 from the National Association of Realtors political action committee, on July 25, 2022. ⁷

Our Hudson PAC has spent $159,470 in the 2022 election cycle against Democratic candidates, according to OpenSecrets. ⁸ The PAC has made five payments throughout the month of August 2022 totaling $159,470 to Winning Edge Strategies, all opposing 2022 Democratic primary candidate Alessandra Biaggi. ⁹

Winning Edge Strategies was incorporated on September 30, 2021, in Kings County, New York, ¹⁰ with an address listed as the offices of Eiseman Levine Lehrhaupt & Kakoyiannis, a Manhattan law firm. ¹¹ Winning Edge Strategies was contracted by Our Hudson PAC to send out mailers opposing Biaggi and its only client appears to be Our Hudson PAC. ¹² Eiseman Levine Lehrhaupt & Kakoyiannis had prior ties to the Independent Democratic Conference (IDC), a faction of dissident Democratic members of the New York State Senate who often aligned with Republicans throughout the seven years of its existence. ¹³

Controversy

Left-wing Democrats have protested super PAC spending in primaries, including the Our Hudson PAC spending, as there has been a nationwide increase in super PAC spending in Democratic primaries, most opposing left-wing candidates and supporting conventional Democrats. ¹⁴ Biaggi has also protested the super PAC spending in support of her opponent Maloney, but has also benefited from donations from left-wing Working Families Party (WFP) in support of her candidacy. ¹⁵

Leadership

There is no information on the Our Hudson PAC website on its founders or leaders. Christopher Koob is listed as treasurer on the FEC listing. ¹⁶ Koob is a partner at MBA Consulting Group which provides compliance support to political campaigns, super PACs, and charitable organizations. He has had several roles in Democratic campaign committees and also as a senior advisor at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Obama Administration. ¹⁷ Koob was previously COO at Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE), which is an oil advocacy group supporting oil drilling in the Arctic and natural gas extraction. This position caused some controversy when he was also leading a super PAC supporting Elizabeth Warren. ¹⁸

1. David Moore. “Mysterious Super PAC Attacks Biaggi in Homestretch of Primary Against DCCC Chair Maloney.” August 9, 2022. Accessed September 11, 2022. https://readsludge.com/2022/08/09/mysterious-super-pac-attacks-biaggi-in-homestretch-of-primary-against-dccc-chair-maloney/
2.  Our Hudson PAC website. Accessed September 18, 2022. https://www.ourhudsonpac.com/
3. “Our Hudson PAC Outside Spending.” Open Secrets. Accessed September 18, 2022. https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending/detail?cmte=C00820175&cycle=2022
4. David Moore. “Mysterious Super PAC Attacks Biaggi in Homestretch of Primary Against DCCC Chair Maloney.” August 9, 2022. Accessed September 18, 2022. https://readsludge.com/2022/08/09/mysterious-super-pac-attacks-biaggi-in-homestretch-of-primary-against-dccc-chair-maloney/
5. David Moore. “Mysterious Super PAC Attacks Biaggi in Homestretch of Primary Against DCCC Chair Maloney.” August 9, 2022. Accessed September 18, 2022. https://readsludge.com/2022/08/09/mysterious-super-pac-attacks-biaggi-in-homestretch-of-primary-against-dccc-chair-maloney/
6. Denis Slattery. “Super PAC money pouring into Dem congressional primary between NYS Sen. Biaggi and Rep. Patrick Maloney.” New York Daily News. August 15, 2022. Accessed September 18, 2022. https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/new-york-elections-government/ny-super-pac-money-dem-primary-biaggi-maloney-20220815-oyuyedhi3rcy3ojc4c4dkxj2hy-story.html
7. “Our Hudson PAC.” Federal Election Commission – Schedule A. Accessed September 18, 2022. https://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/forms/C00820175/1623241/sa/ALL
8. ^[1] “Our Hudson PAC Outside Spending.” Open Secrets. Accessed September 18, 2022. https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending/detail?cmte=C00820175&cycle=2022
9. “Our Hudson PAC.” Federal Election Commission – Campaign Finance Data – Independent Expenditures. Accessed September 11, 2022. https://www.fec.gov/data/independent-expenditures/?committee_id=C00820175&two_year_transaction_period=2022&cycle=2022&data_type=processed&is_notice=true
10. “Winning Edge Strategies, LLC.” New York Company. Accessed September 18, 2022. https://newyork-company.com/co/winning-edge-strategies-llc
11. David Moore. “Mysterious Super PAC Attacks Biaggi in Homestretch of Primary Against DCCC Chair Maloney.” August 9, 2022. Accessed September 18, 2022. https://readsludge.com/2022/08/09/mysterious-super-pac-attacks-biaggi-in-homestretch-of-primary-against-dccc-chair-maloney/
12. David Moore. “Mysterious Super PAC Attacks Biaggi in Homestretch of Primary Against DCCC Chair Maloney.” August 9, 2022. Accessed September 18, 2022. https://readsludge.com/2022/08/09/mysterious-super-pac-attacks-biaggi-in-homestretch-of-primary-against-dccc-chair-maloney/
13. David Moore. “Mysterious Super PAC Attacks Biaggi in Homestretch of Primary Against DCCC Chair Maloney.” August 9, 2022. Accessed September 11, 2022. https://readsludge.com/2022/08/09/mysterious-super-pac-attacks-biaggi-in-homestretch-of-primary-against-dccc-chair-maloney/
14. David Moore. “Mysterious Super PAC Attacks Biaggi in Homestretch of Primary Against DCCC Chair Maloney.” August 9, 2022. Accessed September 18, 2022. https://readsludge.com/2022/08/09/mysterious-super-pac-attacks-biaggi-in-homestretch-of-primary-against-dccc-chair-maloney/
15. Denis Slattery. “Super PAC money pouring into Dem congressional primary between NYS Sen. Biaggi and Rep. Patrick Maloney.” New York Daily News. August 15, 2022. Accessed September 18, 2022. https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/new-york-elections-government/ny-super-pac-money-dem-primary-biaggi-maloney-20220815-oyuyedhi3rcy3ojc4c4dkxj2hy-story.html
16. “About this Committee.” Federal Election Commission – Our Hudson PAC. Accessed September 18, 2022. https://www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00820175/?tab=about-committee
17. LinkedIn – Chris Koob. Accessed September 18, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-koob-4521595/
18. ^[1] Colin Kalmbacher. Law & Crime. February 28, 2020. “Elizabeth Warren Super PAC Run by Former ‘Oil Advocacy Group’ Frontman.” Accessed September 18, 2022. https://lawandcrime.com/2020-election/elizabeth-warren-super-pac-run-by-former-oil-advocacy-group-frontman/