American Future Fund says it will spend $25 million this fall

In an interview with The Center for Public Integrity last week, the spokesman for the Des Moines-based conservative organization American Future Fund said his group plans to spend between $20 million and $25 million on political ads this fall, with a focus on races for the U.S. House.

The group is already involved in a House race here in Iowa, last week launching an ad targeting U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley.

In 2008, The Iowa Independent published its investigation into the group of prominent state and national Republicans behind AFF. While much of the group’s hierarchy has shuffled since then, its leadership is still made up of well-known and influential members of the GOP. As a 501(c)4 nonprofit, AFF does not have to disclose its donors.

The group’s leaders also have numerous connections to the gubernatorial campaign of Terry Branstad and the 2008 Iowa Caucus campaign of Mitt Romney. In fact, before announcing his intentions to run for governor, Branstad served as chairman of AFF’s Lecture Series.

• Sandy Greiner — president of AFF and leader of a political action committee that successfully worked late last year to encourage Branstad back into politics. She is currently a Republican candidate for state Senate.
• Nick Ryan – spokesman for AFF and  founder and president of the Concordia Group LLC (AFF paid Concordia $300,000 in 2008). Ryan gave $25,000 to the Branstad campaign in December 2009 and another $25,000 in July 2010.
• Jill Latham — a principal of Concordia Group LLC and formerly the Iowa political director for Mitt Romney’s 2008 presidential campaign. She has been listed on several press releases as AFF’s media contact.
• Katherine Polking – director of AFF and account representative at Concordia Group LLC.
• Cord Overton — young  conservative liaison with AFF and formerly a field manager for Mitt Romney’s 2008 presidential campaign.
• Nicole Schlinger — past president of AFF who is now leading Branstad’s fundraising efforts. She was grassroots coordinator and Straw Poll director for Romney’s 2008 Iowa Caucus campaign.
• Tim Albrecht– Branstad’s communication director who previously served in the same position for Mitt Romney’s 2008 presidential campaign and with AFF.

The group’s national leadership includes Ben Ginsberg, who resigned as chief outside counsel to the Bush-Cheney campaign in August 2004 when it was revealed that he was also providing advice to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group that sponsored error-laden attacks on the military service record of 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry. Larry McCarthy is AFF’s media strategist and produced the ad attack against Braley. In 1988, McCarthy produced the infamous, racially tinged Willie Horton television ad that helped then-Vice President George H.W. Bush bury Michael Dukakis under charges that he was soft on crime.

American Future Fund was incorporated along with its sister organization (now called Iowa Progress Project) in 2007 by the law firm of Holtzman Vogel, which was founded by long-time Republican operatives Alex N. Vogel and his wife, Jill Holtzman Vogel.