Millions of dollars in outside spending from groups affiliated with Democratic leadership and a dark money network have flowed into the Democratic Senate primary race in Iowa to support State Rep. Josh Turek over a progressive challenger ahead of the election on Tuesday.The interlinked entities supporting Turek include a group run by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, despite assurances he was staying out of the race, and the Bench, part of a new billionaire-backed, corporate-aligned Democratic machine claiming to deliver younger leadership to the Democratic Party.The groups have kept quiet about their joint involvement in the race, likely because of the political optics — voters have grown weary of outside forces putting their thumb on the scale in Democratic primaries. But recent filings indicate they’ve been quietly backing Turek, who’s considered more moderate than his progressive challenger, State Senator Zach Wahls.In May filings with the Federal Elections Commission, a political action committee run by Schumer called Impact reported $10,000 in contributions to Turek’s campaign, the maximum amount allowed under campaign finance rules, as Politico reported on Monday.That disclosure, in the final month before the June 2 primary election, comes after Schumer denied any direct involvement in the race. In particular, Schumer rebuffed accusations from Wahls, Turek’s opponent, that he used an aligned political action committee, VoteVets, as a pass-through vehicle to pump $10 million into the race and boost Turek’s candidacy without appearing to pick sides.Schumer’s office did not respond to the Lever’s request for comment.With Democratic voters increasingly irate at the party’s leadership, Schumer’s endorsement is perceived by many as radioactive, especially after his handpicked candidate in the Maine Senate race, Gov. Janet Mills, flamed out before primary election day.In the 2024 election cycle, the Schumer-aligned Senate Majority PAC gave liberally to VoteVets, a political action committee (PAC) focused on veterans advocacy. VoteVets shares many of the same go-to vendors as the various arms of Schumer’s spending operation and the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee.Those include Waterfront Strategies and Trilogy — the favored media buying firms for Schumer’s PACs — and MPWR Media Strategies. MPWR was founded by Christie Roberts, the former director of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, and includes two alumni of Schumer’s office on its staff.This election cycle, VoteVets has spent $8.2 million in the Iowa contest, the largest money dump in the race and more than half of the PAC’s current $15 million war chest. That outlay has gone to supporting Turek, even though he is not a military veteran. One prominent television ad blanketing the airwaves in Iowa features a military veteran supporting Turek and then quickly cuts to the candidate himself, who uses a wheelchair.Turek’s father was a Vietnam veteran who suffered from exposure to the chemical Agent Orange. VoteVets says that as an organization, it supports not just veterans running for office but their families.Schumer’s staff denied coordinating with VoteVets to covertly support Turek. While Schumer may be distancing himself from VoteVets, another powerful outside entity is deeply connected to the PAC.As the Lever revealed in an April investigation, a new dark money network — made up primarily of two flagship PACs, the Bench and Majority Democrats — has been exerting influence in Democratic primaries around the country in the midterms, including intervening in its chosen candidates’ day-to-day operations to an unprecedented degree.Though it claims no ideological priors, the group tends to support more “moderate” corporate Democrats over populist challengers, as in the Michigan Senate race, where it is supporting state lawmaker Mallory McMorrow over her opponent Abdul El-Sayed, a physician backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).In Iowa, the Bench has thrown its weight behind Turek, and one of the PAC’s fundraising arms lists Turek’s campaign committee as a beneficiary, although it has not yet reported any payments.While Majority Democrats and the Bench do not have any formal affiliation with VoteVets, there are some notable overlaps in the network.VoteVets’ largest individual donor this election cycle is Stephen Mandel, the billionaire hedge funder who is also the largest donor to the Bench and Majority Democrats. VoteVets also paid Matt Corridoni, Majority Democrats spokesperson, as a consultant this past quarter.The Bench purports to champion a new generation of younger Democratic Party leaders. One of the candidates they support, Mallory McMorrow in Michigan’s Democratic primary race, has called for Schumer to step down as leader next Congress.But now it appears the Bench has locked arms with Schumer in Iowa to back the same candidate.