Libertarian tech mogul to hit DSA with an eight-figure spending nuke

Forty million dollars is a lot of money to drop into state legislative races, and Scott Banister isn’t pretending otherwise. He’s calling it a “spending nuke” aimed at the Democratic Socialists of America, and whatever you think of the phrasing, the target is real. The DSA has been grinding away at the unglamorous level of statehouses, where rules get written, budgets get set, and the culture-war stuff turns into actual law. State legislatures are where the damage gets cemented.

We’re not going to clutch pearls about a wealthy donor playing hardball. The left sure doesn’t. The only question that matters is whether Make Liberty Win is smart enough to spend this kind of money like adults, not like tourists. Picking the right races, finding candidates who can win in November, and not treating politics as a Twitter argument. If you’re going to spend eight figures, buy wins, not vibes.

The DSA isn’t just a college-campus club anymore. In a lot of places it’s a disciplined network that shows up at low-turnout primaries, bullies local party committees, and moves policy left in ways normal voters don’t even notice until the bill comes due. They love low-information races because that’s where they can slip past scrutiny. If Banister’s cash forces a spotlight onto those races, fine. Sunlight beats slogans.

Still, we’d like to see less chest-thumping and more receipts. Tell voters what the DSA candidates backed in their own states: higher taxes, softer-on-crime bills, energy mandates, whatever it is. Make the case in plain English and put it on mailers, not just in press releases. Beat them with specifics, not with name-calling. If this effort stays focused, it could actually help build the kind of down-ballot bench Republicans say they want. If it turns into a flashy national crusade, it’ll be $40 million burned for bragging rights.