Keep the Promise Super PACs
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| Keep the Promise | |
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| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Austin, Texas and New York |
| Type: | Super PAC |
| Affiliation: | Republican |
| Year founded: | April, 2015 |
| Website: | Official website |
| Super PACs |
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| Read more about super PACs and the super PACs covered on Ballotpedia. |
Keep the Promise was the name shared by four super PACs that supported Republican Ted Cruz's 2016 presidential bid.
Keep the Promise II and Keep the Promise III along with Keep the Promise PAC were established by attorney Dathan Voelter of Austin, Texas; Voelter was also listed as the treasurer of the three super PACs. Keep the Promise I was setup by New York accountant Jacquelyn James.
Keep the Promise PAC, Keep the Promise II, and Keep the Promise III have all been terminated.
Keep the Promise I changed its name to Make America Number 1 in June 2016. See Make America Number 1 for more information on that organization.
Super PACs
- See also: Super PAC
A super PAC is a political committee that has no legal limits on its spending or the donations it accepts. A super PAC is not allowed to contribute directly to a politician or political party but can spend independently to campaign for or against political figures. Hence, super PACs are officially called independent expenditure-only committees.[1] Super PACs are not legally considered a kind of political action committee (PAC), which have separate rules governing their activities.[2]
In 1976 the U.S. Supreme Court held that individuals have the right to spend as much as they want on independent political messaging. Wealthy individuals could, and did, spend extensively on elections.[3] With two 2010 rulings, the U.S. Supreme Court lifted restrictions on corporation and union spending on politics. Individuals, corporations and unions can now legally donate and spend unlimited amounts on independent political speech as well as donate unlimited amounts to groups that make independent expenditures.[4][5]
Keep the Promise Super PACs
Overview
According to the FEC, each Keep the Promise super PAC was a separate entity, although three of them were established by Dathan Voelter. According to National Review, a source noted that the foundation of four super PACs with the same name, Keep the Promise, meant "donors have very specific things they want done with their money, which ... will ensure that the money contributed by each donor is funneled to that donor’s cause of choice."[6] Days after the founding of Keep the Promise PAC, Keep the Promise I, Keep the Promise II and Keep the Promise III, it was announced that collectively they had raised $38 million in contributions. At the time, Republican strategist Dave Carney told the The New York Times, "I don’t think in the first round anyone would have expected them to raise that much."[7]
After the Super Tuesday presidential primaries in 2016, the four separate groups joined together to create a fifth super PAC called Trusted Leadership PAC, with the organizers of the four Keep the Promise super PACs jointly running the new group.[8]
Keep the Promise PAC
Keep the Promise PAC submitted its Statement of Organization to the FEC on April 6, 2015 (amended April 9, 2015), almost two weeks after Sen. Ted Cruz (R) announced his candidacy for president. The super PAC was created by Dathan Voelter of Austin, Texas.[9] A longtime supporter of Cruz, Voelter had, at one time, been president of the Texas Lyceum, a Dallas-based 501(c)(3) organization that focuses on socio-economic issues.[10][11]
Keep the Promise PAC's donors included Robert McNair and John W. Childs.[12]
Finances
The following table identifies total federal receipts and disbursements for Keep the Promise PAC according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission:
| Annual federal receipts and disbursements for Keep the Promise PAC, 2015-2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Total receipts | Total disbursements |
| 2016[13] | $2,619,610 | $3,984,688 |
| 2015[14] | $2,569,257 | $1,204,178 |
Termination
Keep the Promise PAC filed for termination on February 2, 2017.[15]
Keep the Promise II
Keep the Promise II was established the same day, April 6, 2015, as Keep the Promise PAC, and the FEC submission was also made by Dathan Voelter. Much like Keep the Promise PAC, Voelter was listed as the custodian and treasurer.[16]
Unlike Keep the Promise PAC, Keep the Promise II's sole donor was Toby Neugebauer, the Houston investor and, according to CNN, a close friend to Cruz.[17] According to The New York Times, Neugebauer's contribution was one of the largest donations made by a single donor in the 2016 election cycle.[18]
On September 9, 2015, David Barton, a Christian author and activist, was appointed to lead Keep the Promise II.[19]
After Cruz suspended his campaign on May 3, 2016, Neugebauer, the sole contributor to the super PAC, took $9 million of his pledged $10 million back, according to CNN. Neugebauer stated, "Ted [Cruz] and his team did a great job. He will be president someday. Campaigns will never be the same. Negative ads don't work."[20]
Finances
The following table identifies total federal receipts and disbursements for Keep the Promise II according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission:
| Annual federal receipts and disbursements for Keep the Promise II, 2015-2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Total receipts | Total disbursements |
| 2016[21] | $0 | $9,365,827 |
| 2015[22] | $10,000,000 | $634,172 |
Termination
In late June 2016, Keep the Promise II filed for termination and the official termination of the super PAC was finalized by the FEC on July 4, 2016.[21]
Keep the Promise III
Just like Keep the Promise PAC and Keep the Promise II, Keep the Promise III was founded by Dathan Voelter. Submission of the Statement of Organization was made on April 9, 2015.[23] Keep the Promise III received contributions strictly from the Wilks family of Cisco, Texas. Farris Wilks told CNN, "Our country was founded on the idea that our rights come from the Creator, not the government. I'm afraid we're losing that. Unless we elect a principled conservative leader ready to stand up for our values, we'll look back on what once was the land of opportunity and pass on a less prosperous nation to our children and grandchildren. That's why we need Ted Cruz."[17]
Finances
The following table identifies total federal receipts and disbursements for Keep the Promise III according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission:
| Annual federal receipts and disbursements for Keep the Promise III, 2015-2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Total receipts | Total disbursements |
| 2016[24] | $1,847,550 | $13,474,769 |
| 2015[25] | $15,398,394 | $3,771,174 |
Termination
Keep the Promise III filed for termination on December 27, 2016.[24]
Keep the Promise I
- See also: Make America Number 1
Keep the Promise I was established by Jacquelyn James on April 3, 2015.[26] Until she joined the Trump campaign in July 2016, Kellyanne Conway served as the super PAC's president. She was succeeded by Rebkeah Mercer.[27]
Robert Mercer, CEO of Renaissance Technologies, according to FEC documents, made an $11 million contribution to Keep the Promise I.[28]
Name change
In late June 2016, Keep the Promise I filed an amended statement of organization with the FEC to change the super PAC's name to Make America Number 1.[29] According to the group's website, the super PAC opposes 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.[30]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Keep The Promise Super PAC. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Super PAC
- Ted Cruz
- Ted Cruz presidential campaign, 2016
- Republican presidential election super PACs, 2016
- Make America Number 1
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ New York Times, "Who's Financing the Super PACs?" May 7, 2012
- ↑ The Atlantic, "The New York Times' Disingenuous Campaign Against Citizens United," February 24, 2012
- ↑ George Will, "Super PACs can't crown a king February 29, 2012
- ↑ Slate, "The Numbers Don’t Lie," March 9, 2012
- ↑ Fred Wertheimer, "Citizens United and Contributions to super PACs: A Little History Is in Order," February 21, 2012
- ↑ National Review, "Meet Ted Cruz’s Billionaire Donors," April 8, 2015
- ↑ The New York Times, "Network of ‘Super PACs’ Says That It Has Raised $31 Million for Ted Cruz Bid," April 8, 2015
- ↑ USA Today, "First look: Ted Cruz allies launch new super PAC," March 4, 2016
- ↑ FEC, "Statement of Organization," accessed August 7, 2015
- ↑ The Texas Tribune, "Pro-Cruz Super PACs Expect $31 Million First-Week Haul," April 8, 2015
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Dathan Voelter," accessed August 7, 2015
- ↑ Huffington Post, "Are Ted Cruz's Super PACs Keeping Their Promise To Support Him?" July 31, 2015
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Keep the Promise PAC Year-End Report, 2016," January 18, 2017
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Keep the Promise PAC Year-End Report, 2015," January 31, 2016
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Keep the Promise PAC Termination Report," February 2, 2017
- ↑ FEC, "Statement of Organization Keep the Promise II," accessed August 10, 2015
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 CNN, "First on CNN: Billionaire brothers give Cruz super PAC $15 million," July 27, 2015
- ↑ The New York Times, "The Man Behind the $10 Million Donation to a Ted Cruz ‘Super PAC’," July 31, 2015
- ↑ Bloomberg, "PAC Built by Ted Cruz Mega-Donors Gets Evangelical Leader," September 9, 2015
- ↑ CNN, "Ted Cruz donor sat on $9 million in super PAC," May 4, 2016
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 FEC, "Termination acceptance, Keep the Promise II," July 4, 2016
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Keep the Promise II Year-End Report, 2015," January 31, 2016
- ↑ FEC, "Statement of Organization Keep the Promise III," accessed August 10, 2015
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 Federal Election Commission, "Keep the Promise III Termination Report," December 27, 2016
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Keep the Promise III Year-End Report, 2015," May 17, 2016
- ↑ FEC, "Statement of Organization, Keep the Promise I," accessed August 10, 2015
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Cruz super PAC launches seven-figure, nationwide ad campaign," August 4, 2015
- ↑ Keep the Promise I, "FEC form 3X, Mid-Year (2015)," accessed August 10, 2015
- ↑ FEC, "Statement of Organization, Make America Number 1 (amended)," June 21, 2016
- ↑ Make America Number 1, "About," accessed July 10, 2016
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