Activists and donors from all over the country decided to send thousands of dollars in support of right-wing third-party candidates, who they thought could be spoilers to help Democrats win crucial races during the fight for control of both the House and Senate.

In three swing districts in Montana, Iowa, and Virginia, voters will see candidates who were recruited via Facebook by an ill-reputed group, which relied on Democrats’ money to pay for filing costs and signatures needed to access the ballot.

Some of the same Democrats in Wisconsin have donated thousands to a conservative “America First” candidate, who could be a spoiler for the fiercely competitive U.S. Senate election that could determine the control of the chamber.

Nearly $20,000 was spent to put Thomas Bowman, 71 years old, on the Minnesota 2nd Congressional district ballot.

A group named Patriots Run Project hired Mr. Bowman was recruited earlier this year, after a Facebook search revealed his posts against illegal immigration and COVID-19 vaccinations.

Representatives of the group convinced him that he should run as a constitutional conservative in the district where Democrat Angie Craig is seeking a second term. Ms. Craig is the favorite in the race, but she faces a strong challenge from Republican Joe Teirab. Put Mr. Bowman’s inclusion on the ballot would allow conservative Republicans to vote for him instead of Mr. Teirab.

The majority, and possibly all, of Mr. Bowman’s $19,800 in donations came from Democrats. Mr. Bowman claimed that all of the money spent was on collecting the 1,000 signatures needed to be on the ballot. The Washington Times reported that he doesn’t know who the donors are and how the money is collected.

Mr. Bowman, who has never held office before and lives 10 miles from the 2nd District, is a candidate for no other office.

Veteran with a disability, Mr. Bowman has just recovered from a kidney-transplant and the Patriots Run Project has not provided him with any additional support for his campaign. He hasn’t heard from them for months. The Times’ calls to Patriot Run Project organizers were either not returned, or disconnected. The website has been deactivated.

“I need to build a website and buy a domain but I have no money.” “I’m basically living off Social Security,” said Mr. Bowman stated.

Elizabeth Steinglass is a D.C. poet and author, who has donated large sums to both the Democratic Party as well as individual candidates. She contributed $41,300 to House Democrats’ fundraising arm the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and $21,560 for the Senate Democrats’ fundraising arm the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Ms. Steinglass donated the maximum amount of $3,300 to Mr. Bowman is still running in the race for the 2nd district, despite the fact that he’s a strong supporter of Donald Trump. She didn’t respond to a question from The Times.

Josh Groves from Massachusetts, a publisher, gave $3,300 maximum to Mr. Bowman’s campaign, two months after he had donated to ActBlue.com, the primary fundraising website of the Democratic Party. He did not reply to an inquiry.

Retired Lynn Brody from New York City donated $3,300 to Mr. Bowman, on June 3. She donated $3,300 a few weeks later to Kamala Harris, Vice-President.

No one who donated to Mr. Bowman’s campaign lives in Minnesota. Joe Fox is a donor from Charlottesville, Virginia and Alexandria, Virginia. He gave $3,200 to Mr. Bowman received $3,200. He also contributed to the Senate Campaign of Jon Tester (Democrat from Montana).

Caitlin S. Sutherland, the executive director of Americans for Public Trust (a conservative watchdog organization), said: “That is a lot to give to an unknown candidate. Especially one who is not a Democrat.”

Americans for Public Trust has filed a complaint at the FEC claiming that Patriots Run Project violates campaign finance laws by not filing federal disclosure reports.

Some of Mr. Bowman’s donors posted pro-Democratic messages on social media, or contributed to Democrats before. Rick Thompson, co-founder of Signia Venture Partners and managing director, is a gaming entrepreneur, investor, and manager. He gave Mr. Bowman the maximum donation of $3,300 despite the fact that his candidacy was obscure. Mr. Thomson lives near Jackson, Wyoming.

His social media posts indicate that he supports Democrats. In February, he posted a Democrat site, stepasidejoe.org. He called on President Biden, to quit his race, so that a more powerful party candidate could take his place. For the love of God. Joe Biden, stand down! Mr. Thompson wrote on February 12.

Mr. Teirab is the Republican candidate for Minnesota’s 2nd District. He called the Patriots Run Project recruiting “blatant interference in elections” and blamed it on his Democratic opponent Ms. Craig. Officials of the Democrat Party said that they had nothing to do with this. The Times contacted Ms. Craig’s campaign, but she did not reply.

Some of Mr. Bowman’s donors, such as Mr. Thompson gave the maximum amount of $3,300 to Thomas Leager, a conservative spoiler candidate who is running in Wisconsin’s U.S. Senate election as an independent pro-Trump and pro-Second Amendment.

Recent polling indicates that Mr. Leager may be able to influence the outcome of an extremely close race.

In a Marquette Law School survey released earlier in the month, incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin (a Democrat) is only 3% ahead of Republican Eric Hovde, while Mr. Leager was able to garner 2% of voters likely to vote.

In his social media posts, Mr. Leager criticizes Mr. Hovde for being a “fraud,” who has “worked with Trump-hating media,” and says that the GOP “always makes compromises on conservative views.”

Patriots Run Project did not respond to a call from Mr. Leager inquiring about the campaign. His donations to his campaign are the same as Mr. Bowman.

David Steinglass, the husband of Ms. Steinglass, and Mr. Fox were among those who donated more than $13,000 in Mr. Leager’s campaign. Mr. Steinglass made a large donation to HMP in the last few months, a super PAC that is dedicated to electing Democrats into Congress.

All in all, Mr Leager’s campaign collected $23,550. This money was spent to collect more than 4,000 required signatures.

On his website, Mr. Leager states that he has been recruited to run as a “America First Candidate”.

“I was asked by my community to be a candidate for the U.S. Senate. I accepted this duty despite its challenges,” wrote Mr. Leager.

“America First” means closing borders, protecting American workers and markets, restoring the American Dream and defending 2A. It also means protecting children from radical gender theories, shrinking the federal Government and holding them accountable for weaponizing