Congressional Leadership Fund | |
Basic facts | |
Location: | Washington, D.C. |
Type: | Super PAC |
Affiliation: | Republican |
Year founded: | 2011 |
Website: | Official website |
The Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF) is a Republican super PAC founded in October 2011 to "support candidates who promote the values of the center right majority." The organization's website says that the group is "exclusively dedicated to protecting and strengthening the Republican Majority in the House of Representatives."[1]
The Congressional Leadership Fund is a PAC associated with Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).[2] According to Politico, when the Congressional Leadership Fund was formed in 2011, it was informally known as the "Boehner PAC," as it was generally associated with former Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio).[3]
The organization supports Republicans generally in the interests of maintaining a party majority in the U.S. House. It's initial leadership was linked to the Republican Party; CLF's first president, Brian Walsh, was the political director of the National Republican Congressional Committee before joining the super PAC.[4][5] In 2012, CLF Board Member Vin Weber told Minnesota Public Radio, "It's important to also maintain some breadth to the Republican message because there are places in the country where a very conservative Republican simply can't compete and a truly national party has to be able to be at least somewhat competitive everywhere."[4]
The CLF has a related 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization, the American Action Network.
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As an organization designed to only make independent expenditures, the Congressional Leadership Fund purchases advertising time. The ads that the organization runs either support or oppose candidates based on how they align with the super PAC's mission of maintaining a Republican majority in the U.S. House. In a 2014 report, the Congressional Leadership Fund noted that the group had three tactics for their advertising campaigns. They focused on advertising in October, they forced House Democrats to move money away from gaining seats in order to protect incumbents being challenged by CLF, and they spent on races they felt Republicans could hold in the future.[6]
The Congressional Leadership Fund released a list of 20 endorsees as part of its Trailblazers Fund on April 3, 2024.[7]
The Congressional Leadership Fund released the following list of its Trailblazers Fund-endorsed candidates on January 5, 2022.[8]
CLF Trailblazers Fund endorsements, 2022 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
District | Candidate | |||
Arizona's 6th | Juan Ciscomani | |||
Illinois' 17th | Esther Joy King | |||
Kansas' 3rd | Amanda Adkins | |||
Maine's 2nd | Bruce Poliquin | |||
Montana's 1st | Ryan Zinke | |||
New Jersey's 7th | Thomas Kean Jr. | |||
Texas' 8th | Morgan Luttrell | |||
Texas' 15th | Monica De La Cruz | |||
Texas' 38th | Wesley Hunt | |||
Virginia's 2nd | Jennifer Kiggans | |||
Wisconsin's 3rd | Derrick Van Orden |
On March 5, 2019, the Congressional Leadership Fund announced the following 55 targeted districts for the 2020 election season. The organization identified 31 Trump country seats within districts Trump carried in the 2016 presidential election and 24 opportunity districts composed of primarily suburban communities.[9]
In May 2017, the Congressional Leadership Fund began airing advertisements targeting Jon Ossoff, the Democratic candidate in a special election to represent Georgia's 6th Congressional District. The group announced that it had purchased $6.5 million in advertising leading up to the election.[10] One ad attacked Ossoff’s campaign contributions from California, claiming, “California is the leading funder of the Jon Ossoff campaign.”[11] The CLF had spent $7 million in independent expenditures in the race as of June 13. According to a June 2017 Roll Call article, the race for Georgia’s 6th Congressional District became, as of that time, the most expensive U.S. House race in history.[12]
In August 2016, Politico reported that the CLF had planned $10 million in expenditures to begin in August, earlier than the organization typically announced its expenditures. The site reported, "The spending includes $7.4 million for TV ads in nine districts. About $3.4 million of the $10 million total will go toward efforts to pick up seats currently held by Democrats, and $1.5 million will be used to initiate GOP ground games in California and New York."[13] According to Politico, the ad buys were set to begin in October, aiming to support the campaigns of:[13]
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the Congressional Leadership Fund spent $10,098,748 on the 2014 elections.[14]
The Congressional Leadership Fund endorsed the following candidates in the 2014 elections:[14]
The Congressional Leadership opposed the following candidates in 2014:[14]
In the 2014 elections the Congressional Leadership Fund spent a grand total of $10,098,748, the top ten of it in opposition of Democratic candidates.[14]
Top 10 largest Congressional Leadership Fund expenditures in 2014[14] | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Candidate | Party | State | Office | Total | For | Against | Desired Result |
Carol Shea-Porter | NH | House | $1,551,903 | $0 | $1,551,903 | ||
Ron Barber | AZ | House | $1,225,196 | $0 | $1,225,196 | ||
John Foust | VA | House | $1,108,120 | $0 | $1,108,120 | ||
Pete Gallego | TX | House | $1,047,902 | $0 | $1,047,902 | ||
Ami Bera | CA | House | $972,804 | $0 | $972,804 | ||
Brad Schneider | IL | House | $940,737 | $0 | $940,737 | ||
Gwen Graham | FL | House | $555,969 | $0 | $555,969 | ||
Scott Peters | CA | House | $512,797 | $0 | $512,797 | ||
Seth Moulton | MA | House | $494,832 | $0 | $494,832 | ||
William Enyart | IL | House | $472,581 | $0 | $472,581 |
According to the Sunlight Foundation, the Congressional Leadership Fund spent $9,450,237 on the 2012 elections. Of those funds, 58 percent achieved the desired result, based on Sunlight Foundation analysis.[15] Open Secrets also analyzed the success of 2012 general election cycle spending:[16]
The Congressional Leadership Fund spent no money in support of candidates in the 2012 elections:[17]
The Congressional Leadership opposed the following candidates in 2012:[17]
In the 2012 elections the Congressional Leadership Fund spent a grand total of $9,450,223, all of it in opposition of Democratic candidates.[17]
Top 10 largest Congressional Leadership Fund expenditures in 2012[17] | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Candidate | Party | State | Office | Total | For | Against | Desired Result |
Betty Sutton | OH | House | $2,743,676 | $0 | $2,743,676 | ||
Pete Gallego | TX | House | $1,093,933 | $0 | $1,093,933 | ||
Kathy Hochul | NY | House | $890,366 | $0 | $890,366 | ||
Brad Schneider | IL | House | $829,421 | $0 | $829,421 | ||
Pat Kreitlow | WI | House | $675,072 | $0 | $675,072 | ||
Shelley Adler | NJ | House | $627,114 | $0 | $627,114 | ||
Kyrsten Sinema | AZ | House | $572,747 | $0 | $572,747 | ||
Mike McIntyre | NC | House | $520,030 | $0 | $520,030 | ||
Lois Capps | CA | House | $512,378 | $0 | $512,378 | ||
Leonard Boswell | IA | House | $438,336 | $0 | $438,336 |
The following are some of the campaign ads aired by the Congressional Leadership Fund in the 2012 election cycle.
The following is a breakdown of the Congressional Leadership Fund's contributions received and expenditures from 2012-2016 fiscal years, as reported to the FEC.
Annual reported contributions and expenditures, 2011-2016 | ||
---|---|---|
Year | Contributions | Expenditures |
2016[18] | $50,309,795 | $49,655,073 |
2015[19] | $743,224 | $400,939 |
2014[20] | $11,530,039 | $11,879,893 |
2013[21] | $1,082,658 | $684,878 |
2012[22] | $11,155,986 | $10,768,365 |
2011[23] | $130,604 | $42,643 |
The Congressional 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.[24][25]
On January 5, 2023, the Club for Growth, a PAC that "endorses and raises money for candidates who stay true to the fundamental principles of limited government and economic freedom," announced it would support Kevin McCarthy's (R-Calif.) bid for speaker of the House after coming to an agreement with the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF) regarding spending in Republican primaries.[26] CLF President Dan Conston said, "CLF will not spend in any open-seat primaries in safe Republican districts and CLF will not grant resources to other super PAC’s to do so. [...] CLF will continue to support incumbents in primaries as well as challengers in districts that affect the Majority."
Club for Growth President David McIntosh said, "This agreement on super PAC’s fulfills a major concern we have pressed for. We understand that Leader McCarthy and Members are working on a rules agreement that will meet the principles we have set out previously. Assuming these principles are met, Club for Growth will support Kevin McCarthy for Speaker."[27]
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