Tech billionaire Peter Thiel has funneled at least $9 million into Virginia's redistricting referendum through a dark money network that conceals its donors, according to campaign finance records reviewed by TIME—part of a nearly $100 million spending war over who gets to draw congressional maps.
The PayPal and Palantir co-founder, a close ally of President Trump, channeled his funds through Per Aspera Policy Inc., a nonprofit that doesn't disclose its donors, to the Justice for Democracy PAC opposing the redistricting measure. The spending represents one of the most significant deployments of dark money in a state-level campaign, revealing how billionaires can shape American democracy's basic infrastructure—the maps that determine representation—while operating largely in the shadows.
"Peter Thiel, one of Donald Trump's top billionaire backers, is spending millions in Virginia to push a campaign built on lies and racial division," said Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones, condemning the billionaire's involvement.
The campaign tactics drew particular controversy. Thiel-backed groups targeted Black Virginia voters with mailers that exploited civil rights imagery, comparing the redistricting referendum to Jim Crow-era voter suppression. The NAACP called the approach "manipulative" and "racist," arguing it distorted the referendum's actual purpose.
The spending reveals how modern campaign finance operates at the state level, where Supreme Court rulings have opened the door to unlimited political spending through tax-exempt nonprofits. According to campaign finance analysis, approximately 95 percent of the nearly $100 million spent on both sides of the Virginia fight came through 501(c)(4) organizations—classic "dark money" structures that don't disclose their donors.
