Political leanings: Democratic
2020 total spending: $160.2 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 political action committee. Abby Curran Horrell, a former chief of staff for Rep. Ann McLean Kuster, became the PAC’s executive director in April 2019.
The House Majority PAC was one of several 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. Since the Democrats took control of the House after the 2018 midterms, the PAC has been “committed to protecting and fortifying the Democratic House Majority.”
As a Carey Committee, the House Majority PAC can act as both a traditional PAC, giving money directly to candidates’ committees, and a super PAC, making independent expenditures not coordinated with candidates and accepting donations of any size from individuals, labor unions and corporations. It must disclose those donations and independent expenditures in reports to the Federal Election Commission.
In the 2020 election cycle, the House Majority PAC raised a total of $160.3 million. It spent the vast majority of that amount — $138.9 million — on independent expenditures, which is spending on advertising that expressly advocates for the election or defeat of a federal candidate. The PAC also contributed $795,000 directly to federal candidates, distributing amounts ranging from $2,500 to $15,000 to more than six dozen Democratic candidates.
Michael Bloomberg, who unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, donated $25.4 million to the PAC, making him the PAC’s largest individual donor during the 2020 campaign. Other major donors included: Fred Eychaner, founder and chairman of the media and printing company Newsweb Corp., who gave $9 million; Paloma Partners hedge fund executive Donald Sussman, who gave $5 million; James Simons, president of Euclidean Capital, who gave $5 million; and George Marcus, chairman of Marcus & Millichap, a real estate investment company, who gave $3 million.
In 2020, the largest donations from organizations came from labor unions, including the Laborers’ International Union of North America PAC, which gave $3.5 million, and Working for Working Americans, which gave $13.1 million.
As of Aug. 31, the House Majority PAC had raised over $97.5 million for the 2022 cycle, according to the FEC. Horrell, the PAC’s executive director, said the group is “on track to be able to spend a record amount helping hold the [House] majority.” So far in the 2022 cycle, the PAC has spent over $19 million, including over $2 million on independent expenditures, or ads. Over $900,000 was spent on ads supporting Carrick Flynn, who lost May’s Democratic primary for a 6th Congressional District seat in Oregon.
Major donors include Samuel Bankman-Fried, CEO of FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange, who donated $6 million; Fred Eychaner, founder and chairman of Newsweb Corp., who donated $9 million; James Simons, founder of Renaissance Technologies, a hedge fund, who gave $2.5 million; Marcus & Millichap real estate broker George Marcus who gave $2 million, and Ronald Conway, founder and managing partner of SV Angel, who donated $1.65 million.
PACs affiliated with labor unions have donated in large amounts as well. Working for Working Americans, a super PAC funded by a building trades union, has donated $10 million; Laborers’ International Union of North America PAC donated $3.25 million, and Service Employees International Union Committee on Political Education donated $1.5 million.
FactCheck.org Undergraduate Fellow Tess Hancock contributed to this article.