Are two Pennsylvania Republicans who appeared in pro-Kamala Harris campaign spots really "trained actors" who donated to Democratic causes for years? No, that's not true: The Democratic donations came from people with similar names but who live in different parts of Pennsylvania. The woman who is in the Harris ad confirmed to Lead Stories, "Both my husband and I are lifelong Republicans." The only professional acting listed for the couple in the campaign commercial is for a horror movie they produced on their family farm.
The misleading narrative first appeared in a post (archived here) on X, formerly known as Twitter, on September 24, 2024. The post said, in part:
The Harris-Walz campaign is running an ad in Pennsylvania claiming to depict two ordinary Pennsylvanians who are former Trump supporters ... Both are trained actors ...They are prolific regular donors to DEMOCRATS for over a decade.
This is how the post appeared at the time of the writing of this fact check:
(Source: X.com screenshot taken on Tue Oct 1 at 22:14:00 2024 UTC)
The Harris spot (archived here) gives a location of "Malvern, PA." Although the man and woman in the Harris spot are not fully identified by name, the X post that is the focus of this fact check identified them as Robert Lange and Kristina Chadwick.
An online search produced an undated article on the Positively Pennsylvania site about a couple, Bob Lange and "his fiancée, Kristina Chadwick," and a farm in Malvern, Pennsylvania. The website of that farm, Sugartown Strawberries, lists "Farmer Bob Lange and Kristina Chadwick Lange" as owner/operators of the farm. Malvern, Pennsylvania, is roughly 30 miles from Philadelphia, where another Robert Lange and Kristina Chadwick live, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records.
In the 29-second spot recorded for presidential candidate Kamala Harris, the two self-proclaimed lifelong Republicans say they became disillusioned with Donald Trump after his supporters' January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and because Trump "divides people."
Shortly after the spot began appearing, so did claims that Lange and Chadwick were actually longtime donors to Democratic causes.
The X post included a screenshot of donation records compiled from the FEC. They showed a Kristina Chadwick making two donations in 2016 to ActBlue, a nonprofit that facilitates online fundraising for Democrats, progressives and other nonprofits, according to its website. The image also listed several similar donations made by a Robert Lange between 2016-2024, including one the post highlighted in yellow, for the campaign of the Democratic Party's 2016 presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton. A screenshot from the X post is below:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Tue Oct 1 14:16:29 2024 UTC)
But according to records and Lead Stories research, neither of those people are the ones featured in the Republicans for Harris ad.
Lead Stories used the dates, amounts and recipients for the Robert Lange listed in the X post to find the original FEC records.
A few more clicks on the FEC site showed the actual address for Democratic donor Robert Lange. He resides in Philadelphia, not Malvern. (As a precaution, Lead Stories concealed his street address in the screenshot below.)
(Source: Federal Elections Commission screenshot taken on Tue Oct 1 15:10:20 2024 UTC)
Records from the people-search service BeenVerified, which says that it aggregates data from thousands of public records and government databases, show that Robert E. Lange Jr. in Philadelphia is 80 years old: 
(BeenVerified screenshot taken on Wed, Oct 1 2024)
The same database listed Robert T. Lange from Malvern, Pennsylvania, as 69:
(BeenVerified screenshot taken on Wed, Oct 1 2024)
An email from Lead Stories to the Philadelphia Robert Lange was not returned.
The post on X also identified the wrong Kristina Chadwick. Again using dates, amounts and recipient information from the post, Lead Stories identified the Kristina Chadwick donation records on the FEC webiste. A few more clicks provided the Philadelphia address, employer and occupation for the actual donor. (As a precaution, Lead Stories concealed the street address in the screenshot below.)
(Source: Federal Elections Commission screenshot taken on Tue Oct 1 15:10:24 2024 UTC)
The 2016 FEC records (archived here) show Kristina Chadwick's employer as Arden Theatre in Philadelphia where she worked as scenic artist. As of October 1, 2024, the theatre's website no longer listed Chadwick on its roster of employees, but an earlier version (archived here) listed her as Kristina Chadwick McGrath. She did not respond to an email request from Lead Stories.
That is a different name from the woman in the pro-Harris spot. Her name is Kristina Chadwick Lange. The Linked-In page (archived here) for Kristina Chadwick Lange includes various law firms where she worked as a paralegal before joining her husband's farm.
Lead Stories tried to contact both the Malvern couple who are in the pro-Harris ad, and the Robert Lange and Kristina Chadwick in Philadelphia.
We spoke with Kristina Chadwick Lange in Malvern by phone on October 3, 2024. She said, "I've never made any political contributions in my life. Both my husband and I are lifelong Republicans. It's very simple to check this."
She said the couple made three campaign videos supporting Harris.
"We have no regrets," Kristina Chadwick Lange said about the false allegations. "The first five days were scary. But people are pouring in from around the world with support for us. It inspires us and warms our heart."
The post that made the claim that is the target of this fact check provided no evidence to prove that the Malvern couple were "trained actors." According to the Internet Movie Database, the two have one listing: for the movie "Hayride to Hell" which they produced on their family farm in 2022.
SAVVYMainline published a similar fact check here.
Additional Lead Stories fact checks of claims concerning Kamala Harris are here.
Other Lead Stories fact checks of claims related to the 2024 U.S. election can be found here.
