A late-stage effort to defeat a New York State ballot measure that would enshrine a right to abortion into the State Constitution has been bolstered by $8 million in donations from a handful of conservative donors.
The Vote No on Prop 1 political action committee received $6.5 million from Dick Uihlein, a scion of one of the founders of Schlitz beer and the founder of the shipping company Uline. Along with his wife, Mr. Uihlein has given generously to former President Donald J. Trump, as well as to groups opposed to gay and transgender rights. Last year, Mr. Uihlein spent $4 million to defeat Ohio’s abortion amendment, providing the bulk of the funding against the measure.
The committee also received $1 million from Thomas J. Tisch, a financier who was a key supporter of Lee Zeldin’s unsuccessful bid for governor of New York in 2022.
The late infusion of cash is expected to amplify opponents’ messaging surrounding the measure, known as the Equal Rights Amendment.
Conceived of as a way to safeguard abortion after the fall of Roe v. Wade, the initiative would also expand legal protections to people based on sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability and national origin.
Democrats had hoped that the ballot initiative could help boost turnout by energizing voters who care about abortion rights. Public sentiment in New York appeared to be on the ballot’s side: A recent Siena College poll shows that some 69 percent of New Yorkers approve of the amendment.
Party leaders pledged to raise $20 million to support the initiative, but as Election Day draws near, they have struggled to come anywhere close to that. Much of the money raised by New Yorkers for Equal Rights, a PAC that supports the amendment, has gone to pay for consultants rather than for political ads.
Sasha Ahuja, the PAC’s campaign director, rejected assertions that the group had in any way mismanaged its funds, saying in a statement that the group would spend $3.1 million in paid advertising between the PAC and the state party. “We are using the full force of our organizing muscle on doors, on the phone and other text in every corner of the state,” she said.
But the influx of donations and the coordinated spending campaign from the Vote No on Prop 1 committee has reignited proponents’ fears that the initiative could be in trouble.
In the past week, the Vote No committee spent $5 million on a burst of television, digital and radio ads, urging voters to reject the amendment, according to state Board of Elections filings.
The committee’s recent ad blitz seeks to harness voter frustration over immigration issues to make a case against the amendment. Over footage of an unruly mob, the ad warns that the amendment would extend taxpayer benefits undocumented people and even “open the door to noncitizens voting.”
“This isn’t about equal rights,” an announcer says. “It’s about special rights for illegal immigrants.”
And while the amendment’s authors and the New York City Bar Association agree that the amendment would give undocumented immigrants the right to vote, that has not stopped opponents from their claims.
Another group, the Coalition to Protect Kids, has spent a little less than $500,000 against the amendment, which it says would destroy girls sports by allowing transgender girls to participate.
The Vote No committee also received support from $500,000 Warren Stephens of Little Rock, Ark., $25,000 Sean Fieler of Stamford, Conn., and $100 from Allen Roth of New York City.
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