The American Leadership Project, a group registered under section 527 of the Internal Revenue Service code, spent almost $865,000 on Monday for television ad buys in Ohio and Texas supporting the presidential candidacy of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), according to Federal Election Commission filings out Wednesday.

[IMGCAP(1)]The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which has endorsed Clinton in the 2008 presidential primaries, was the major benefactor of the 527, having given the outside political group $1 million on Feb. 29.

The ads apparently worked, as Clinton defeated Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) in both pivotal primaries Tuesday.

— Matthew Murray