New 'Smurfing' Allegations Surround Arizona's Democrat Senator

Sen. Mark Kelly's FEC troubles and ActBlue connections, potential liabilities to his likely 2028 presidential run.

Sen. Mark Kelly’s (D-AZ) political action committees (PACs) stand accused of engaging in illegal “smurfing” campaign finance activities that involve possible money laundering, according to an as-yet unpublished complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

The former NASA astronaut, U.S. naval commander, and potential presidential candidate first assumed office in 2020 and is up for re-election in 2028. Kelly has told supporters he will decide about a 2028 presidential run after Tuesday’s midterm elections. The Arizona Democrat has not commented on this FEC complaint that first surfaced in October. 

If the FEC moves forward with an investigation, the allegations could possibly complicate Kelly’s future political ambitions. The complaint focuses on $41.3 million in campaign funds raised through the FEC-listed committees: the Mark Kelly Victory Fund and Mark Kelly for Senate. The election watchdog group that filed the complaint contends both PACs have been complicit in “smurfing” exercises that occur when large contributions are broken up into thousands of small donations and attributed to straw donors known as “smurfs.” As Restoration News has previously reported, smurfing is a form of money laundering employed for the purpose of circumventing individual contribution limits while concealing the source of the donations. 

(The FEC does not typically publicly release documents for cases pending investigation.)

ActBlue Remains the Focus of Congressional Investigations 

The ActBlue network, founded in 2009 for the benefit of the Democratic Party, Democratic candidates, and left-wing causes, has repeatedly come under congressional scrutiny for alleged smurfing exercises. ActBlue includes a political action committee, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit called ActBlue Charities, and a 501(c)(4) nonprofit called ActBlue Civics. In September, three House committees released a joint report titled: “Fraud on ActBlue, Part III: ActBlue’s Failure to Prevent Illegal Foreign Political Contributions.” This latest report builds on “earlier revelations about ActBlue’s flawed and inadequate fraud-prevention practices,” according to a press release. 

Kelly’s name has previously come up in connection with ActBlue and suspected smurfing operations. Wendy Urbanowicz, a potential fictional donor residing in Vancouver, Washington, made 28,659 donations to ActBlue totaling $260,196—averaging 17 contributions per day, since 2020, according to campaign finance records. Urbanowicz supposedly made another 720 donations totaling $12,099 to the Democratic Congressional Committee; 609 donations totaling $12,365 to the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee; and 259 donations totaling $11,421 to Kelly.

The new FEC complaint alleges Mark Kelly for Senate accepted 790,641 flagged transactions totaling $39,246,003 from 46,697 unique donors (making up roughly 36.6 percent of the committee’s total valuation). The complaint also says the Mark Kelly Victory Fund accepted 961 flagged transactions totaling $2,054,634 from 581 unique donors.

There is no public FEC record pointing to an active investigation into the allegations against Kelly. However, Committee on House Administration Chairman Bryan Steil (R-WI) has said Congress will continue to probe into ActBlue’s fundraising activities. In April 2025, President Donald Trump called on then-Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate ActBlue. The DOJ probe remains active and ongoing.

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