Political leanings: Republican/Conservative

2020 total spending: N/A

Make America Great Again Inc. is one of many political action committees affiliated with former President Donald Trump. The super PAC was established Sept. 23, six weeks before the 2022 midterm elections on Nov. 8, to provide a final push for Trump-backed candidates.

Taylor Budowich, Trump’s current communications director, heads the super PAC, while long-term conservative political consultant Chris LaCivita is its chief strategist. During the 2020 election, LaCivita — who is reportedly being considered for a top position in Trump’s possible 2024 campaign — created Preserve America PAC, which spent nearly $103 million, ranking ninth overall for outside spending. 

As a super PAC, officially known as an independent expenditure-only committee, MAGA Inc. advocates for the election or defeat of federal candidates without coordinating with candidates, campaigns or political parties. It can accept unlimited contributions, but it must disclose its donors.

In its pre-general election filing on Oct. 27, MAGA Inc. reported receiving nearly $32.1 million this election cycle, primarily from other Trump-affiliated PACs. The super PAC received $20 million from Trump’s leadership PAC Save America, and $8.9 million from MAGA, Again! Inc.

As of Oct. 19, Save America has raised over $107.1 million this cycle, while MAGA, Again! Inc has raised more than $16 million.

As of Oct. 31, MAGA Inc. has spent almost $12 million, including nearly $11.3 million against Democratic senatorial candidates in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Ohio and Pennsylvania. They are all among the states considered key to which party controls the Senate in 2023. 

The super PAC has been most active in Arizona, where it is supporting Republican Blake Masters for Senate. In total, it has spent over $2.7 million advocating for the election of Masters over Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly.

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Political leanings: Conservative

2020 total spending: N/A 

American Dream Federal Action is a hybrid PAC with a mission to back “forward-looking” Republicans who will “protect America’s long term economic and national security by advancing smart policy decisions now,” its website says. 

As a hybrid PAC, or “Carey committee,” the group can function both as a super PAC, raising unlimited funds for independent expenditures, and as a traditional PAC, giving money to candidates directly. It is required to use distinct bank accounts for each purpose.

The group, which was formed under a different name in March and then changed its name in April, must report its independent expenditures and donors to the Federal Election Commission. 

American Dream Federal Action says it prioritizes pandemic preparedness. In an interview with the Washington Examiner, the group’s founder, Ryan Salame, stated, “Living through and going through COVID, it became abundantly clear that we’re not prepared for pandemics.”

“It’s really important — and it’s one of the best things that we can do for future generations to ensure that we are prepared for them,” Salame continued. 

The group hopes to achieve this mission by “leveraging America’s technological edge and best scientific minds to forecast future national challenges and craft public policy solutions to address those challenges now.”

Salame works with billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried, who is the primary funder of Protect Our Future PAC, a group that also emphasizes pandemic preparedness but instead backs Democratic candidates in House races. Salame is a co-CEO of FTX Digital Asset Markets, a subsidiary of Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange, FTX. He previously worked for Alameda Research, a cryptocurrency trading firm founded by Bankman-Fried. 

Before founding American Dream Federal Action, Salame donated $1.5 million to GMI PAC — a super PAC that supports both Republicans and Democrats “who work to give US-based innovators the opportunity to build next-generation technologies and services here in America rather than doing that valuable work overseas.”

As of Aug. 31, Salame has been American Dream Federal Action’s sole individual funder. The group has raised slightly over $15 million, all from its founder. 

“Being relatively new to this, I wasn’t quite sure the amount it would take to have a real impact. At the onset, I wanted to keep it under $25 million,” Salame told the Washington Examiner. “There’s not an exact science. We look at candidates holistically, look at what they’ve said previously about pandemics, see if there’s any history, and then move forward with candidates in that fashion.” 

Thus far, American Dream Federal Action has spent about $12.6 million in independent expenditures, entirely in support of 15 Republican candidates in House and Senate races. The group has not made any direct contributions via its traditional PAC arm.  

Only two of these candidates, Rep. Rodney Davis of Illinois and Matt Mowers of New Hampshire, did not advance to the general election. 

American Dream Federal Action spent $2.4 million in support of Davis, who introduced the Pandemic Rapid Response Act in April 2020. The bill, which did not become law, would have created a “bipartisan commission to analyze our nation’s response [to the COVID-19 pandemic] and make recommendations to better prepare our country for any future pandemic.” 

Davis lost in the state’s newly redrawn 15th Congressional District to Rep. Mary Miller in June. Illinois lost one seat in Congress after the 2020 U.S. Census, forcing two incumbents to vie for one seat.

In May 2021, Davis was one of 35 Republicans who voted to form an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The vote became an issue in the campaign. Miller, who won Trump’s endorsement, did not vote for the commission and claimed Davis “stabbed President Trump in the back by voting for the sham” commission. 

The hybrid PAC also made headlines this fall for collectively spending about $3 million to support three Republicans — Katie Britt of Alabama and Bo Hines and Rep. Ted Budd, both of North Carolina — who were endorsed by Trump and have spoken out against COVID-19 restrictions in the past.

The group spent nearly $2 million to help Britt win the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Alabama. Britt, a former chief of staff to retiring Sen. Richard Shelby, supported COVID-19 vaccinations, but opposed government restrictions, such as mask mandates and government-imposed lockdowns. 

American Dream Federal Action plans to participate in the general election but to a lesser extent than it did in the primary.

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Political leanings:

2020 total spending: $5.5 million

Our American Century is one of many political committees managed by long-time PAC treasurer Cabell Hobbs.

The super PAC was established in 2012, originally under the name Geaux PAC, by its treasurer, Michael D. Thompson. As a super PAC, officially known as an independent expenditure-only committee, Our American Century advocates for the election or defeat of federal candidates without coordinating with candidates, campaigns or political parties. It can accept unlimited contributions, but it must disclose its donors.

In 2017, Geaux PAC was renamed to Our American Century, and in 2018, Hobbs assumed the role of treasurer. In the three election cycles prior to Hobbs becoming treasurer, the super PAC never raised more than $67,000. 

Over his career, Hobbs has worked for numerous committees associated with well-known GOP politicians. He currently serves as treasurer for the John Bolton PAC and assistant treasurer for the Ted Cruz for Senate campaign committee. During the 2004 campaign, Hobbs was the assistant treasurer for the Bush-Cheney ’04 Compliance Committee for Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush and his running mate, Dick Cheney.

In 2020, Our American Century raised nearly $7.7 million, predominantly from two donors: Fred Eshelman, founder of Eshelman Ventures investment company and founding chairman of Furiex Pharmaceuticals, who donated $7 million, and Tim Dunn, CEO of CrownQuest Operating, who contributed $550,000.

Our American Century spent $5.5 million on the 2020 presidential election: $2.1 million in support of then-President Donald Trump, and $3.4 million against the election of Joe Biden. 

In December 2020, Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan election watchdog, filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission that alleged Our American Century violated the Federal Election Campaign Act when it paid for a Trump campaign ad during the 2020 campaign.

On Aug. 10, the super PAC agreed to pay a $14,000 fine for failing to disclose that it “made six ad buys from Google” for the Trump campaign ad in four swing states in late October, according to a FEC letter to Hobbs. The ad carried a disclaimer that said it was “[p]aid for by Donald J. Trump President, Inc.,” even though the super PAC paid between $5,100 and $251,000 for the ad buys, the FEC said.

In the 2022 election cycle, Our American Century has received over $12 million, as of Aug. 31. Large donors include Steve Wynn, co-founder of Wynn Resorts and former finance chair of the Republican National Committee, and Save America, a Republican leadership PAC formed by Trump. They have contributed $10.35 million and $1 million, respectively.

As of Sept. 30, the super PAC has spent $6.75 million on independent expenditures, including $5 million against 10 Democratic senatorial candidates, since the start of September. 

Our American Century has been most active in Pennsylvania, where it is supporting Republican Mehmet Oz for Senate. In total, it has spent over $2 million advocating for the election of Oz and the defeat of his opponents. Mehmet faces Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman in the Nov. 8 general election. 

Fact-checking Our American Century:

GOP Ads Use Outdated Federal Report to Attack Democrats on ‘Higher Taxes’, Sept. 23

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Political leanings: Nonpartisan

2020 total spending: N/A

United Democracy Project is a nonpartisan super PAC created to advocate for political organizations and candidates that support the United States’ partnership with Israel. The super PAC “works to help elect candidates that share our vision and will be strong supporters of the U.S.-Israel relationship in Congress,” according to its website.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a lobbying group, announced its plans to launch a political action committee and a super PAC ahead of the 2022 election cycle in December 2021. The PAC would later be named AIPAC PAC, which has become the biggest pro-Israel PAC in the United States, and the super PAC would become the United Democracy Project. Initially, the super PAC’s “About Us” statement did not include any mention of Israel or anything about pro-Israel lobbying, but it has since been changed.

As of June 30, United Democracy Project has raised almost $27.6 million.

The group’s largest contributor is its creator, AIPAC, which donated $8.5 million. Jan Koum, the co-founder and former CEO of WhatsApp, donated $2 million. These UDP donors contributed $1 million each: Jonathon S. Jacobson, the non-executive chairman and founding member of HighSage Ventures; Paul Singer, the founder of Elliott Management; Bernard Marcus, the co-founder of The Home Depot; and Haim Saban, the co-founder of Fox Family Worldwide who established Saban Films and Saban Capital Group. As a super PAC, UDP can accept unlimited donations, but it must disclose its donors. It cannot fund candidates directly, but it can spend unlimited amounts expressly advocating for or against federal candidates — spending the Federal Election Commission defines as “independent expenditures.”

United Democracy Project has spent nearly $24.3 million, as of Aug. 2, on independent expenditures during the 2022 election cycle, with all of it being spent for or against targeted Democratic candidates. As of early August, UDP was the second-highest spender among outside groups in the primary elections, behind the conservative Club for Growth Action. UDP has been the highest spender in the Democratic primaries.

United Democracy Project has spent the most to help defeat former Rep. Donna Edwards in the July 19 Democratic primary in Maryland’s 4th Congressional District. UDP spent $4.26 million against Edwards and $1.7 million for the winning candidate, Glenn Ivey, a former county prosecutor. 

The group also spent heavily in two House primaries in Michigan. In the state’s 11th Congressional District, UDP spent $3.88 million supporting Haley Stevens and $342,000 against Andy Levin, and in the 13th Congressional District, UDP spent $2.74 million in support of Adam Hollier and $1.43 million opposing Shri Thanedar. Stevens won the primary, but Hollier lost his race to Thanedar.

UDP was active in two Democratic primaries in North Carolina, spending $2.13 million supporting Valerie Foushee in the state’s 4th District, and $2.1 million backing Donald Davis and $335,000 against Erica Smith in the state’s 1st District. UDP’s candidates won those primaries. 

In Pennsylvania’s 12th District, UDP’s preferred candidate, Steve Irwin, lost the May 17 Democratic primary. The group had spent $2 million against Summer Lee, who won, and $660,000 for Irwin. 

In Texas, UDP spent $423,000 for Henry Cuellar and $1.43 million against Jessica Cisneros in the Democratic primary in the state’s 28th Congressional District. Cuellar won the Democratic nomination in a run-off election on May 24.

“There was rising concern in the pro-Israel community about candidates for Congress who held radical anti-Israel views,” UDP spokesman Patrick Dorton told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in July. “What we’re trying to do is build the broadest bipartisan pro-Israel coalition in Congress possible.”

The news organization reported that “Dorton did not commit UDP to backing its Democratic primary winners in the general election against Republicans who might be equally or even more aligned with AIPAC’s agenda.”

We reached out to UDP but have not received a response.

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Political leanings:

2020 total spending: N/A 

Protect Our Future PAC was established in January 2022 to “help elect candidates who will be champions for pandemic prevention,” the group’s website says. 

The group is a hybrid PAC, or “Carey committee,” meaning it can function both as a super PAC — raising and spending unlimited sums for independent expenditures— and as a traditional PAC — giving money directly to campaigns — as long as it maintains distinct bank accounts for each purpose. 

As a hybrid PAC, the group is required to disclose its donors and independent expenditures to the Federal Election Commission.

Protect Our Future PAC’s spokesperson, Mike Levine, told us in an email that the PAC’s “ultimate goal” is for the candidates it supports to “advance federal funding and policy proposals that prevent future pandemics.” 

Michael Sadowsky, a career political strategist and data scientist, serves as the group’s president. Previously, he worked as a strategist for Guarding Against Pandemics, which is partly financed by billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried. 

Since founding Alameda Research, a cryptocurrency trading firm, and FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange, Bankman-Fried has acquired an estimated net worth of $21 billion, which he has used, in part, to back political campaigns. In the 2020 presidential election, Bankman-Fried was one of Joe Biden’s largest donors, giving $5 million to a Democratic hybrid PAC that spent more than $100 million on advertisements during the final five weeks of the election. He has contributed to Senate Republicans as well.  

Bankman-Fried has provided Protect Our Future PAC with the majority of its donations. The group has raised $28 million for the 2022 election cycle as of June 30, with $23 million from Bankman-Fried. Nishad Singh, who serves as head of engineering at FTX, has donated another $1 million. 

As of July 21, the PAC has spent $21.3 million on independent expenditures — exclusively in Democratic primaries for House seats. 

This level of spending makes Protect Our Future PAC the third highest among outside spenders, topped only by Club for Growth Action and United Democracy Project. 

Levine told us that “Protect Our Future has no specific fundraising target for 2022,” and “it will continue to seek and allocate funds in whatever way furthers its goal of preventing future pandemics.” The group has “no current plans” to spend money in the general election. 

“Protect Our Future takes candidate endorsements by Guarding Against Pandemics into account and then allocates resources in whatever way Protect Our Future believes will increase the chances of its champions being elected,” Levine said.

The PAC has spent $10.5 million, about half of the group’s independent expenditures through July 21, in support of Democrat Carrick Flynn in his unsuccessful primary bid in the highly funded Oregon 6th Congressional District race. Like Protect Our Future PAC, Flynn has stated that his “‘first priority is pandemic prevention.’”

The PAC spent nearly $940,000 against Flynn’s opponent, Oregon state Rep. Andrea Salinas. These expenditures represent the only instance in which Protect our Future PAC has spent money against a Democratic candidate. 

The group also has spent money in support of Rep. Lucy McBath, who is running for reelection in Georgia, and Robert Garcia and Valerie Foushee, who are running for House seats representing California and North Carolina, respectively. All of them won their Democratic primaries. 

So far, the group hasn’t made any direct contributions to candidates through its traditional PAC arm.

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Political leanings: Democratic/liberal

2020 total spending: $81.1 million 

Democracy PAC and Democracy PAC II are liberal super PACs created by billionaire George Soros to fund political organizations that help elect Democrats. 

Michael Vachon, an adviser, spokesperson and chief of staff for Soros, is the treasurer of Democracy PAC, which was created in January 2019, and Democracy PAC II, which was formed in August 2021. As super PACs, both can accept unlimited donations.

As of June 30, Democracy PAC II had received slightly more than $126 million in contributions. Soros, the super PAC’s only listed individual contributor, donated $125 million. The group has spent just over $13 million during the 2022 election cycle so far, donating $5 million to the Senate Majority PAC and $1 million each to Care in Action PAC, House Majority PAC, Vote Rev PAC, One Georgia Inc. and the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State — all of which are liberal or support Democratic candidates.

Democracy PAC is solely funded by Soros and the Fund for Policy Reform, of which Soros is founder and board chairman. The Fund for Policy Reform is one of six Open Society Foundations, which are “the world’s largest private funder of independent groups working for justice, democratic governance, and human rights,” according to its website. 

For the 2020 campaign, Democracy PAC raised nearly $81.4 million — $75.5 million from the Fund For Policy Reform and about $5.8 million from Soros. Of that, the group spent slightly less than $81.1 million on contributions to other political organizations, including $11.5 million to the Senate Majority PAC, which helped the Democrats gain control of the Senate, and $4 million to the House Majority PAC, which helped the Democrats hold onto control of the House.

The super PAC also contributed $5.5 million during the 2020 campaign to Priorities USA Action, which spent more than $110 million on independent expenditures to help elect Joe Biden president. The Federal Election Commission defines independent expenditures as spending on “a communication that expressly advocates” for the election or defeat of a specific candidate.

As of June 30, Democracy PAC reported receiving slightly more than $25.2 million in contributions — all from the Fund for Policy Reform ($25 million) and Soros (nearly $250,000). Democracy PAC has spent nearly $9.2 million so far this election cycle, including donating $2 million to the AB PAC, a liberal super PAC that conducts opposition research to help Democratic candidates and organizations.

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Political leanings: Pro-environment/liberal

2020 total spending: $42.3 million for the super PAC alone

The League of Conservation Voters is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit that works to defeat “anti-environment” candidates and elect politicians “who will implement sound environmental laws and policies,” according to its mission statement.

The group was founded in 1969 by activist David Brower, executive director of the Sierra Club in the 1950s and ’60s and founder of Friends of the Earth. Its current president is Gene Karpinski, former executive director of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. Several well-known environmental organizations are represented on its board, such as Earthjustice, Friends of the Earth and The Wilderness Society.

The League of Conservation Voters tracks the voting records of members of Congress on environmental issues in its National Environmental Scorecard. The league’s super PAC, the LCV Victory Fund, annually names a “Dirty Dozen,” a list of politicians whom the group aims to defeat because of their voting records on conservation issues and their political vulnerability. It also names a state-level Dirty Dozen.

In addition to the super PAC, the league has three other affiliated organizations: the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund, a traditional political action committee; the LCV Education Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that does public outreach and education; and the LCV Political Engagement Fund, a 527 political organization that focuses on state elections.

The super PAC primarily spends money on independent expenditures advocating for or against the election of candidates, while the traditional PAC contributes directly to candidate or party committees.

Most of the super PAC’s independent expenditures support Democratic candidates and oppose Republicans. As of July 31, the super PAC had raised around $22 million and had spent $5.4 million on independent expenditures for the 2022 election cycle.

Nearly $1.5 million of that spending has gone to opposing Republican Adam Laxalt, Nevada’s attorney general, in his Senate race against Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto. The group has also spent close to $1 million in Arizona supporting Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly in his Senate race against Republican challenger Blake Masters.

As a super PAC, the LCV Victory Fund is required to disclose its donors to the Federal Election Commission. So far, the super PAC’s largest donor is the League of Conservation Voters, the nonprofit, which donated almost $12.8 million.

As a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, the League of Conservation Voters does not need to disclose its donors and can make unlimited contributions to super PACs. Spending to influence elections in which the source of the money is undisclosed is known as “dark money” spending, as the research group OpenSecrets.org explains. 

Other major donors to the LCV Victory Fund include America Votes, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit that labels itself “the coordination hub of the progressive community,” which gave $1.5 million and Reuben Munger, founder of sustainable investment firm Vision Ridge Partners and a member of the LCV’s board of directors, who donated $735,000. Former New York City mayor and businessman Michael Bloomberg contributed $400,000.

As of July 31, the league’s traditional PAC, League of Conservation Voters Action Fund, has raised about $715,000 and has contributed roughly $600,000 to federal candidates and other political committees for the 2022 cycle.

In the 2020 election cycle, the LCV Victory Fund raised around $61.1 million and spent almost $42.3 million on independent expenditures. The super PAC spent much of that on the presidential race, using about $10 million to oppose then-President Donald Trump’s reelection and almost $7.2 million in favor of Democrat Joe Biden. In its 2020 Dirty Dozen list, the super PAC named Trump the “Dirtiest of All-Time.” The LCV Victory Fund also spent nearly $19.7 million on Senate races and almost $5.5 million on contests in the House of Representatives.

In that cycle, the super PAC received $16.3 million from the League of Conservation Voters. The super PAC’s second largest donor was the Sixteen Thirty Fund — another 501(c)(4) nonprofit that is not required to disclose its donors — which gave nearly $6.8 million.

Other top donors included Michael Bloomberg, who gave $4.2 million, and Robert Grantham, CIO and co-founder of investment management firm Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo & Co., who donated $3 million.

The league’s traditional PAC, the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund, raised around $1.2 million in the 2020 cycle. It made about $1 million in contributions to federal candidates and other committees, according to FEC tabulations.

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Political leanings:

2020 total spending: $165.9 million

The Congressional Leadership Fund’s sole purpose is to win a Republican majority in the House of Representatives.

The super PAC was formed in October 2011 as the conservative counter to the liberal House Majority PAC and is endorsed by House Republican leadership. As a super PAC, technically known as an independent-expenditure-only committee, CLF advocates the election or defeat of federal candidates without coordinating with candidates, campaigns or political parties. It can accept unlimited contributions, but it must disclose its donors.

Dan Conston serves as CLF’s president, as well as the president of its sister 501(c)(4), the American Action Network. Conston has managed communications for several successful Republican congressional campaigns and served as communications director for former Rep. Peter Roskam. He is president of the media consulting firm Conston Communications and a partner at the consulting firm GCG Solutions, both of which specialize in media production and project management.

According to OpenSecrets, the super PAC spent nearly $143 million on advertising advocating the election or defeat of specific candidates during the 2020 election cycle. It spent more than $7 million to support Republican challenger Claudia Tenney’s successful bid to unseat Democratic Rep. Anthony Brindisi in New York’s 22nd Congressional District, and more than $6 million to help Republican Troy Nehls win a seat held by retiring Republican Rep. Pete Olson in Texas’ 22nd Congressional District.

In all, the CLF spent $131 million against 68 Democratic House candidates, and 42 of the targeted candidates went on to lose their races. 

CLF’s largest individual donors in 2020 were casino owner Sheldon Adelson, who died in January 2021, and his wife, Miriam. The couple — longtime Republican backers — contributed $50 million to the group, and Timothy Mellon, chairman and owner of the transportation holding company Pan Am Systems, gave $20 million.

As of July 4, CLF has raised about $151 million and spent just over $21 million, Federal Election Commission records show. In 2020, CLF raised a total of $165.7 million and spent $165.9 million. The group’s spending in 2020 had increased from 2018, when CLF raised a total of $157.8 million and spent $158.7 million. 

Major donors for the 2022 campaign cycle include Kenneth C. Griffin, Citadel founder and CEO, who has donated a little more than $18.5 million, and Patrick G. Ryan, founder, chairman and CEO of the Ryan Specialty Group, who has donated just over $10 million. American Action Network, CLF’s sister 501(c)(4), has contributed nearly $20 million.

CLF released its first ads of the 2022 election cycle in early January 2021. The five-figure digital ad campaign targeted 21 Democrats who voted for Rep. Nancy Pelosi to be speaker of the House. Since then, CLF has launched a series of ads attacking Democrats on crime, cost of living and education.

FactCheck.org Undergraduate Fellow Tess Hancock contributed to this article. 

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Political leanings: Republican

2020 total spending: n/a

Former President Donald Trump established the Save America political action committee in November 2020, just days after he lost the presidential election to Joe Biden.

Save America is a so-called leadership PAC, which is a committee often formed by members of Congress or other political figures to support other candidates for federal and nonfederal offices. “Leadership PACs are designed for two things: to make money and to make friends, both of which are crucial to ambitious politicians looking to advance their careers,” says OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan research group that tracks money in U.S. elections.

The PACs can also be used to fund expenses, such as travel, that cannot be covered by campaign committees or congressional offices, OpenSecrets says.

Save America says it is about “building on” the accomplishments of the Trump administration while “supporting the brave conservatives who will define the future of the America First Movement,” the Republican Party and the country.

Since forming, it has received $129.6 million in contributions — with over $98 million of that coming in this election cycle. As of May 31, it still had more than $101 million on hand, according to a recent filing with the Federal Election Commission.

Over $50 million of its 2021-2022 haul came via transfers from the Save America Joint Fundraising Committee — a collaboration with the Make America Great Again PAC, another Trump-affiliated group — which raised about $107 million last year. Save America also received over $94 million from the Trump Make America Great Again Committee, which is a separate joint fundraising partnership between Save America, Make America Great Again PAC and the Republican National Committee. That joint committee pulled in over $29 million in 2021 to add to the $60 million it had in the bank at the end of 2020.

However, despite its massive reserves, Save America has donated just $210,000 to 42 House and Senate candidates running for office in 2022. The relatively small amount is at least partly attributable to campaign finance rules that limit how much the PAC can give to federal candidates, which is a maximum of $5,000 per candidate.

Those who have received donations include Trump allies in Congress, as well as several primary challengers to Republicans who voted to impeach or convict Trump for his role in the attack on the U.S. Capitol in January 2021. For example, Save America donated to Harriet Hageman, who is challenging Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming; Joe Kent, who is challenging Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington; John Gibbs, who is challenging Rep. Peter Meijer of Michigan; and Kelly Tshibaka, who is challenging Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

In addition, Save America has contributed nearly $150,000 to more than two dozen state-level candidates — some in key states where Trump lost to Biden.

In Georgia, it donated $5,000 to David Perdue, a former U.S. senator whom Trump endorsed in the GOP primary in the gubernatorial race. Trump criticized Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who is up for reelection, because he did not support Trump’s efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 elections results in Trump’s favor. In a statement announcing his endorsement of Perdue for governor, Trump claimed that “Brian Kemp has failed Georgia.” Kemp won the Georgia primary in late May, beating Perdue by 51 percentage points.

Likewise, Save America gave $7,000 to Rep. Jody Hice, another Trump-backed Republican, who unsuccesfully ran for Georgia secretary of state against Republican incumbent Brad Raffensperger. In an infamous January 2021 phone call, Trump urged Raffensperger, the top elections officer in the state, to “find” enough votes for Trump to be declared the winner in Georgia.

The PAC also contributed $1 million to America First Policy Institute, a conservative policy think tank founded in April by former Trump aides, and the Conservative Partnership Institute, a group started in 2017 by former Republican Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina. Mark Meadows, Trump’s former White House chief of staff, joined the Conservative Partnership Institute as a senior partner in January.

It also donated $1 million to American Leadership Action, a conservative super PAC supporting Dr. Mehmet Oz’s campaign for senator in Pennsylvania.

Meanwhile, the leadership PAC has spent about $19.1 million on operating expenditures, which include payments for items such as legal consulting, polling, event staging, travel and payroll. Notably, its expenses include over $1.5 million for online advertising on Facebook, where Trump is suspended from posting until at least 2023. That ban does not apply to Trump-affiliated groups, a Facebook spokesperson told Politico.

As for staff, veteran Florida GOP strategist Susie Wiles is Save America’s CEO, and Taylor Budowich, a spokesman for Trump, is its communications director.

Eric Branstad and Alexander Latcham, political operatives from Iowa, joined the PAC as senior advisers in August. Branstad worked on Trump’s campaigns, and Latcham was previously employed by the Trump White House as a policy adviser.

Update, April 14: In late March, Save America contributed $500,000 to Get Georgia Right PAC, a conservative super PAC that opposes the reelection of Gov. Brian Kemp. In early April, Get Georgia Right PAC began airing a TV ad that claimed — without proof — that, because of Kemp, “widespread illegal ballot harvesting” prior to the January 2021 Senate runoffs elected Georgia’s two Democratic U.S. senators.

Correction, April 14: Rep. Jody Hice is a U.S. congressman for Georgia, not a representative in the Georgia state House of Representatives.

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Political leanings: Democratic/liberal

2020 total spending: $84.7 million 

American Bridge 21st Century is a liberal super PAC that conducts opposition research to aid Democratic candidates and organizations. The group changed its name to AB PAC in November 2019.

The group was founded in November 2010 by David Brock, a conservative-turned-liberal activist. After making a name for himself as a self-described “right-wing hit man,” Brock reinvented himself as a liberal crusader. In 2004, Brock founded Media Matters, which monitors “conservative misinformation.” Brock also founded Correct the Record, a pro-Hillary Clinton hybrid PAC/super PAC known as a Carey committee, which began as an arm of American Bridge but split off in 2015 to become an independent committee. 

As a super PAC, American Bridge can accept unlimited donations and is largely funded by major Democratic donors and labor unions. Bradley Beychok, a former president of Media Matters, is the co-founder of the super PAC and served as the group’s president until March 2021, when he was succeeded by Jessica Floyd, who previously had been managing director of campaigns for the Hub Project, which advocates progressive causes. 

American Bridge raised $85.5 million in 2020, and spent nearly all of it on independent expenditures, which the Federal Election Commission defines as spending on communications that “expressly advocate” for the election or defeat of a specific candidate. The majority of that spending (about $51 million) went for ads that opposed then-President Donald Trump, including $25 million on an ad campaign in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — states that Trump narrowly won in 2016. The ads, which targeted “likely Trump defectors” and undecided voters, featured attacks on Trump’s handling of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Joe Biden won all three states en route to becoming president.

The largest donors in the 2020 cycle, according to Federal Election Commission filings, included Deborah Simon, daughter of the late property developer Melvin Simon, who contributed $6 million; Phillip Ragon, CEO and founder of the technology company InterSystems, who gave $2.5 million; and Stephen Mandel, founder of the hedge fund Lone Pine Capital, who donated $3.5 million. 

The super PAC has set a goal of raising $100 million for the midterm elections, the Washington Post reported last year. As of July 31, it has raised over $39 million for the 2022 election cycle, according to the FEC. 

Major donors for this cycle, as of July 31, once again include Mandel, who has donated $4.15 million, and Simon, who has donated $3.5 million. In addition, Michael Moritz, a partner at Sequoia Capital, has donated $3 million, and the Democracy PAC has donated $2 million. American Bridge 21st Century Foundation, a related nonprofit, has contributed nearly $3 million.  

FactCheck.org Undergraduate Fellow Tess Hancock contributed to this article. 

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