Less than two weeks after publicly pledging not to accept “dark money,” Maurice McCaney, a Republican candidate for Alabama House District 1, promoted a television attack ad tied to a political spending network that routed money through organizations with undisclosed funding sources and an obscure Wyoming consulting company.
McCaney, a Florence attorney challenging incumbent state Representative Phillip Pettus in the Republican primary, posted on Facebook in mid-April, “I won’t take ‘dark money,’ and I won’t try to buy votes with it either.”
Days later, McCaney used the same campaign account to share a television ad attacking Pettus over his legislative record.
The ad appeared as part of a broader political campaign targeting several incumbent Republican lawmakers through television advertising, direct mail, text messages and campaign-style websites criticizing incumbents who supported allowing Alabama voters to decide gambling legislation.
APR reviewed several advertisements and mailers connected to the broader campaign and found claims that were misleading and, in some cases, inconsistent with public legislative records. The claims against Pettus, for example, included numerous exaggerations or falsehoods, including an accusation that he supported early release for violent felons while citing his support for a bill that changed the cash bail system for people arrested for nonviolent crimes.
APR has previously reported on the political committees and consulting firms connected to those attacks, including the role of Alabama Values PAC, a newly formed political committee registered to a rented mailbox inside a UPS Store in Montgomery.
State disclosure filings reviewed by APR show Alabama Values PAC quickly became a major spender in Alabama Republican primary races this spring.
A substantial share of the PAC’s funding came from Freedom Forward Alliance, a Virginia-based organization whose original funding sources are not publicly disclosed in Alabama records.
Public documents reviewed by APR show little publicly identifiable political activity connected to Freedom Forward Alliance beyond similar attack campaigns in Arkansas earlier this year.
In Alabama, Alabama Values PAC focused heavily on incumbent Republican lawmakers challenged by candidates endorsed by Alfa Farmers Federation.
Although Alfa has publicly denied any connection to Alabama Values PAC, financial disclosure reports show both Alabama Values PAC and Alfa’s political arm, Farm PAC, made substantial payments to the same consulting company, Audaces LLC.
Audaces LLC was registered in Sheridan, Wyoming, in August 2025 at 30 N. Gould St., a commercial registration address used by thousands of LLCs nationwide.
Despite receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars connected to Alabama political campaigns, Audaces has virtually no public-facing presence. APR could identify no company website, publicly listed executives, published client list or prior political consulting history associated with the LLC.
APR also could not identify previous Alabama campaign work publicly connected to the company before 2025.
Disclosure reports show Farm PAC paid Audaces nearly $250,000 in April alone.
Many of those payments were listed as in-kind contributions supporting specific candidates endorsed by Alfa. One filing reported a $22,535 in-kind contribution through Audaces benefiting McCaney’s campaign.
Other Alfa-backed candidates also received substantial support routed through Audaces, according to state filings. Those candidates included Terry Waters, who received $53,669 in reported in-kind support; Amy Minton, who received $90,149; Danielle Duggar, who received $26,737; and Joseph Freeman, who received $24,991.
During the same reporting period, Alabama Values PAC paid Audaces nearly $115,000 for services listed as digital consulting, direct mail and media placement—categories directly associated with political advertising operations.
Disclosure reports reviewed by APR do not establish which specific advertisements, mailers or websites were financed through the various payments made to Audaces.
However, records show the same consulting company appeared repeatedly throughout both spending operations during the closing weeks of the Republican primary campaigns.
APR previously asked Alfa about its relationship with Audaces. A spokesperson said Alfa had worked with Audaces for “more than 20 years” and said the organization’s political expenditures were properly disclosed and consistent with its public endorsements of candidates.
Public business filings reviewed by APR, however, show Audaces LLC was not formally registered until August 2025.
APR also submitted detailed questions to McCaney about his public opposition to dark money and the campaign support disclosed through Audaces.
McCaney did not respond to APR’s emailed questions.
No illegal or unethical conduct has been alleged, and the expenditures and donations reviewed by APR appear to comply with Alabama campaign finance laws.
Still, the overlapping financial relationships among Alabama Values PAC, Freedom Forward Alliance, Farm PAC and Audaces LLC highlight the growing role of outside political spending networks in Alabama legislative primaries, where PACs and consulting firms can spend heavily while revealing little about the original source of the money.
It remains unclear who ultimately financed the broader attack campaign, what specific services Audaces provided to the various political organizations, and whether voters will ever receive a fuller accounting of how the money moved through Alabama’s Republican primary races.
