Group tied to tech billionaire Peter Thiel backs anti-redistricting campaign

A Virginia Democratic leader attacked a seven-figure donation from a dark money group backing opponents of the state’s redistricting referendum.

New details have emerged about funding for the political group that’s been sending out deceptive mailers in the fight over Virginia’s redistricting referendum. 

Per Aspera Policy Incorporated, a Massachusetts-based dark money group, gave $2.5 million on March 26 to Justice for Democracy PAC, the political action committee behind anti-redistricting mailers with Civil Rights imagery that say new congressional districts would dilute the votes of Black Virginians.

As a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, Per Aspera Policy does not have to disclose where it gets its money, but the group reportedly has ties to Peter Thiel, the deeply conservative billionaire who wrote in a 2009 essay, “I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible.” 

Thiel is a mentor of US Vice President JD Vance and his tech company, Palantir, has helped the Trump administration carry out its mass deportation program. 

According to CBS News: “Per Aspera is a dark money nonprofit, which means that its spending is used to influence elections, but it is not required to disclose its donors.”

Virginia House of Delegates Speaker Don Scott (D-Portsmouth) criticized Thiel for thinking he can trick voters by backing a group resorting to deceptive campaign tactics. 

“As the first Black Speaker in Virginia’s history, I don’t take this lightly,” Scott said in a statement. “Our elections belong to the people – not out-of-state tech billionaires using cheap tricks to manipulate voters.”

NAACP Virginia State Conference held a press conference in Richmond on Wednesday denouncing the misleading anti-redistricting mailers targeting Black voters. 

“Today, we confront a legacy that echoes the Jim Crow era—disinformation designed to sow confusion and suppress the voices of Black voters,” said NAACP Virginia president Rev. Cozy Bailey. “We are here to affirm that we will not be deterred; we will fight back.”

The anti-redistricting campaign has repeatedly embraced the use of misinformation in its effort to defeat Democrats’ redistricting campaign, which would see Virginia redraw its congressional maps ahead of the November midterms.

Democrats’ proposal, which could see them gain up to four seats in the US House, came after President Donald Trump successfully pressured Republicans Republican-led states to redraw their congressional districts in the middle of the decade to help the GOP in this fall’s midterms. Such redistricting usually occurs at the end of the decade to reflect census data. 

As Republicans began redrawing their maps to tilt elections in their favor, Democrats in California and here in Virginia felt no choice but to follow suit as a means of fighting back. 

Early voting is underway on the proposal and continues through April 18. Election Day is April 21.