Political leanings: Democratic
2018 total spending: $95.6 million
The House Majority PAC was founded in April 2011 by Alixandria Lapp, a former Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee official. Her husband, Democratic consultant John Lapp, has led advertising campaigns for the PAC.
It was one of several super PACs formed by Democrats in response to the heavy spending by conservative organizations in the 2010 midterm elections, when Republicans gained control of the House. Now, after Democrats took control after the 2018 midterms, the PAC says it is focused on “holding Republicans accountable and helping to hold the newly won Democratic majority in the House.”
As a super PAC, it can take donations of any size from individuals, labor unions and corporations, but must disclose its donations and expenditures periodically in reports to the Federal Election Commission.
As of Oct. 14, the House Majority PAC’s receipts for the 2019-2020 cycle totaled about $138 million, according to the FEC.
Former Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg donated $11.4 million to the PAC. Other major donors include: Fred Eychaner, founder and chairman of the media and printing company Newsweb Corp., who gave $4 million; Paloma Partners hedge fund executive Donald Sussman, who gave $4 million; and Marcus & Millichap real estate broker George Marcus, who gave $2 million.
The largest donations from organizations have come from labor unions, including the Laborers’ International Union of North America, which gave $3.5 million, and Working for Working Americans, which gave $11 million.
In the 2018 election cycle, the House Majority PAC raised a total of $95.7 million. It spent nearly all of that amount, including $72.1 million on independent expenditures to support Democratic candidates and oppose Republicans.
The PAC spent more than $3 million in te 2018 cycle to defeat Washington state Sen. Dino Rossi in Washington’s 8th District, more than $3 million to successfully unseat Rep. Tom MacArthur in New Jersey’s 3rd District and more than $2.9 million to oppose Rep. Jeff Denham in California’s 10th District.
In 2017, the super PAC spent $421,000 opposing Republican Karen Handel in the special election to fill a House seat in Georgia left vacant by former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price. The super PAC spent an additional $230,000 supporting Handel’s Democratic opponent, Jon Ossoff, who lost the race.
The largest contributors to the PAC in 2018 were billionaire hedge fund manager James Simons, who gave $10 million, Marcus, who gave $5 million, Sussman, who gave $4.8 million, and retired media executive Fred Eychaner, who donated $4 million.
A number of labor unions also chipped in large sums in 2018. The Carpenters & Joiners Union gave more than $7 million; the Laborers Union gave more than $3 million; the American Federation of Teachers gave just over $1.5 million; and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers donated more than $1.1 million.
FactCheck.org Undergraduate Fellow Isabella Fertel contributed to this article.