House Democrats' campaign arm is instructing allied super PACs to promote minor candidates in several key House races, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: This allows Democrats to steer outside groups toward siphoning votes from Republicans without violating laws against direct coordination.

An Axios review of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's "redboxes" — publicly available webpages laying out what PACs should say in ads and which voters to target — found references to minor candidates in five races.

The DCCC included language on four of those pages promoting a third-party or independent candidate with language touting their conservative, pro-gun or anti-government bona fides.

"Registered Republicans under the age of 55 need to see ads," the redbox for Colorado's 5th District says, "showing that ... Christopher Mitchell, a libertarian, is the true conservative running for Congress."

The page for Virginia's 2nd District says white, college-educated men should see that independent J.…