WASHINGTON -- A Super PAC funded by an out-of-state political donor is spending more than $800,000 on a media buy in support of Jake Bequette's run for the U.S. Senate, according to a Federal Election Commission filing.
Bequette of Little Rock, a former NFL player, is challenging incumbent U.S. Sen. John Boozman of Rogers in the Republican primary this year.
A new filing with the FEC shows that the super PAC, called the Arkansas Patriots Fund, spent more than $841,000 this month on a television and cable media buy in support of Bequette's run.
Dick Uihlein, CEO of Uline, poured $1 million into the group last year, according to available FEC files. Uihlein's contribution was tied to a Wisconsin address, according to an FEC filing.
The U.S. Senate race is perhaps the most high-profile Arkansas congressional race this midterm election cycle.
Bequette has sought to paint Boozman as out of line with former President Donald Trump, even though the incumbent received Trump's endorsement last year.
"As an invisible career politician, Boozman has turned his back on President Trump and the America First movement for too long, but now it's time for the people of Arkansas to hold him accountable," Bequette said in a statement last week.
He's also accused Boozman of being a RINO, which stands for Republican in Name Only.
Not only has Boozman received an endorsement from Trump, but Sen. Tom Cotton of Little Rock and Republican gubernatorial candidate Sarah Huckabee Sanders have endorsed the incumbent as well.
In Congress in recent months, Boozman pushed back against a Biden administration vaccine-or-testing rule directed at larger companies and opposed an effort to move forward a voting rights measure backed by Senate Democrats.
Boozman is running for a third term in the U.S. Senate and faces primary challenges from Jan Morgan of Hot Springs, a gun range owner, and Heath Loftis, a Stuttgart pastor.
Bequette has criticized past statements Boozman has made about U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming and an outspoken Trump critic.
In a statement Wednesday, Bequette said the Republican National Committee made the right decision in censuring Cheney, one of two Republicans on a congressional panel that's investigating the storming of the U.S. Capitol last year by Trump supporters.
Boozman on Tuesday said it was not the right move for the RNC to censure Cheney. Instead, he said censures should be addressed at the state party level.
It remains to be seen if or how the super PAC money will shape the race.
Boozman is outpacing his GOP competitors on the fundraising front, according to available FEC filings.
Boozman's campaign announced a fourth-quarter haul of more than $1.1 million. That brings the campaign's cash-on-hand total to more than $3.5 million at the end of the fourth quarter, according to the FEC filing.
The fourth quarter of 2021 covered October, November and December.
The senator's campaign committee spent about $401,000 during the fourth quarter, according to FEC filings.
The filing period is from Feb. 22-March 1. The primary is May 24, and the general election is Nov. 8.
CORRECTION: Heath Loftis, a Stuttgart pastor, is one of the candidates vying for the Republican nomination to run for the U.S. Senate in the May 24 primary for the seat now held by Sen. John Boozman. A previous version of this story failed to mention Loftis is one of the candidates.