Senate Leadership Fund
| Senate Leadership Fund | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Warrenton, Virginia[1] |
| Type: | Super PAC |
| Affiliation: | Republican |
| Top official: | Steven Law, President |
| Year founded: | 2015 |
| Website: | Official website |
The Senate Leadership Fund is a super PAC that was founded to support a Republican majority in the United States Senate. As of July 2020, the group was led by Steven Law, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) former chief of staff.[2][3]
Mission
According to the organization's website, the Senate Leadership Fund has the following mission statement:
| “ | As an independent Super PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund has one goal: to protect and expand the Republican Senate Majority when Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Chuck Schumer, together with their army of left-wing activists, try to take it back in 2020.[2][4] | ” |
Background
The Senate Leadership Fund was established in January 2015 by supporters of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in order to maintain a Republican majority in the United States Senate. When it was founded, the group began to work closely with American Crossroads, a conservative super PAC.[5]
Political activity
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As a super PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund can solicit and spend unlimited sums of money. The group cannot contribute directly to a politician or political party, but it can make independent expenditures to support or oppose political figures.[6][7]
2020-21 elections
In November 2020, Senate Leadership Fund launched Peachtree PAC, a super PAC focused on the January 5, 2021, U.S. Senate runoff elections in Georgia. CBS News reported that Peachtree PAC planned to spend $40 million toward the races. CBS also reported that the Senate Leadership Fund planned to spend $47 million toward the races.[8]
Click the links below for more on Georgia's Senate runoff races:
- United States Senate runoff elections in Georgia (January 5, 2021)
- United States Senate election in Georgia, 2020 (Perdue vs. Ossoff runoff)
- United States Senate special election in Georgia, 2020 (Loeffler vs. Warnock runoff)
2018 elections
In April 2017, the Senate Leadership Fund began running ads against Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), criticizing her for her vote against President Donald Trump's (R) nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch. The ads targeted McCaskill, according to Politico, because of her re-election bid in 2018 in a state that Trump won by more than 18 percent in the 2016 presidential election.[9]
2017 elections
On May 8, 2017, the Senate Leadership Fund announced it had reserved $2.6 million for advertisements supporting Luther Strange in the special election to represent Alabama in the Senate. Strange was appointed to fill the vacancy left when Jeff Sessions was appointed as attorney general. The money was reserved for advertisements slated to appear between July 11 and August 15, 2017. According to Chris Pack, the organization's spokesperson, the spending was the first in a series of intended purchases supporting Strange. Pack said, "A lot of people in glass houses are throwing stones in Alabama, and they will quickly realize that this won't be going unanswered. This $2.65 million buy is just an initial down payment on Senate Leadership Fund's commitment to supporting Senator Strange."[10]
2016 elections
The Senate Leadership Fund dedicated $40 million in advertisements in June 2016 to support the following U.S. Senate candidates:[11]
- Joe Heck, Nevada
- Pat Toomey, Pennsylvania
- Rob Portman, Ohio
- Roy Blunt, Missouri
- Kelly Ayotte, New Hampshire
Marco Rubio support
According to a May 27, 2016, article in The Hill, the Senate Leadership Fund stated that it would support Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) for re-election.[3] Rubio initially dismissed speculation that he would run, having decided against re-election prior to running for president.[12] Following Rubio's June 2016 decision to seek re-election, the Senate Leadership Fund stated that it would support his campaign.[13]
Leadership
The following individuals held leadership positions with the Senate Leadership Fund, as of July 2020:[13][1]
- Steven Law, President
- Caleb Crosby, Treasurer
Finances
As a super PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund can solicit and spend unlimited sums of money. The group cannot contribute directly to a politician or political party, but it can make independent expenditures to support or oppose political figures.[6][7]
2019
According to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission, the Senate Leadership Fund reported $28,310,228.43 in total receipts and $3,637,355.14 in total disbursements during calendar year 2017.[14]
2018
According to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission, the Senate Leadership Fund reported $116,545,224.03 in total receipts and $116,685,803.14 in total disbursements during calendar year 2018.[15]
2017
According to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission, the Senate Leadership Fund reported $14,166,351.99 in total receipts and $10,609,451.47 in total disbursements during calendar year 2017.[16]
2016
According to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission, the Senate Leadership Fund reported $105,281,367.51 in total receipts and $113,779,795.86 in total disbursements during calendar year 2016.[17]
2015
According to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission, the Senate Leadership Fund reported $11,630,600.00 in total receipts and $380,216.13 in total disbursements during calendar year 2015.[1]
Legal status
The Senate Leadership Fund is a super PAC. A super PAC is a political committee that can solicit and spend unlimited sums of money. A super PAC cannot contribute directly to a politician or political party, but it can spend independently to campaign for or against political figures. These committees are also called independent expenditure-only committees. A super PAC is not legally considered a political action committee (PAC) and as such is regulated under separate rules.[6][7]
Media
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Senate Leadership Fund. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Federal Election Commission, "Details for Committee ID : C00571703, 2015" accessed July 22, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Senate Leadership Fund, "About," accessed July 29, 2020
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Hill, "McConnell-allied group: We'll back Rubio if he runs for reelection," May 27 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ The New York Times, "McConnell’s Allies Establish Fund to Keep Senate in G.O.P. Hands," January 20, 2015
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 The Atlantic, "The New York Times' Disingenuous Campaign Against Citizens United," February 24, 2012
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 The New York Times, "Who's Financing the 'Super PACs'?" May 7, 2012 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "nytexp" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ CBS News, "'Everybody is looking up to Georgia right now': Early voting kicks off in Senate runoffs," December 16, 2020
- ↑ Politico, "Senate Democratic outside group launches radio ads defending McCaskill," April 18, 2017
- ↑ AL.com, "GOP super PAC plans $2.6 million in TV ads for Luther Strange," May 8, 2017
- ↑ Daily Caller, "Senate leadership reinforces battleground races with $40 million," June 28, 2016
- ↑ The Hill, "Top Republican urges Rubio to run for reelection," May 26, 2016
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 The Hill, "GOP Senate super-PAC reserves $40M in airtime," June 28, 2016
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "FEC Form 3X - Report of Receipts and Disbursements, Senate Leadership Fund, Year End 2019, accessed July 29, 2020
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "FEC Form 3X - Report of Receipts and Disbursements, Senate Leadership Fund, Year End 2018," accessed July 29, 2020
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Details for Committee ID : C00571703, 2017," accessed February 13, 2017
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Details for Committee ID : C00571703, 2016," accessed April 20, 2017
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