314 Action

Political action committee

314 Action

Founded| 2016; 9 years ago (2016)
Founder| Shaughnessy Naughton
Type| Political action committee
Website| www.314action.org

314 Action is a progressive political action committee (PAC) that seeks to elect STEM-educated Democrats to higher office in the United States.

The group gets its name from the first three digits of the mathematical constant pi (π).[1]

## History

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The organization was founded in 2016 by researcher Shaughnessy Naughton.[2][3] Naughton is a business owner and a chemist who unsuccessfully ran for Congress as a Democrat in Pennsylvania's 8th congressional district in 2014 and 2016.[4] She founded the group due to her worry about the election of Donald Trump and Trump's refusal to name any climate change experts to his cabinet, claiming that Trump is "anti-science".[1]

314 Action is the only national organization dedicated to recruiting, training, and electing Democratic scientists to public office.[citation needed]

314 Action has stated that the organization was inspired by EMILY's List. The express goal is to increase the number of STEM-educated Democrats elected to public office.[5][1] They have stated that they will only support Democrats, and will refuse to work with or contribute to any Republican candidate. Citing the Democratic Party's support of green politics, Naughton stated, “We felt we had to pick a team” arguing that science cannot remain above politics because "politics is not above bringing itself into science".[1] As of 2024[update], they have exclusively supported Democratic candidates and organizations supporting them.[6]

In 2025, 314 Action announced plans to elect 100 new physicians to office by 2030.[7]

### 2020 election

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Main article: 2020 United States presidential election

In 2020, 314 Action endorsed 19 candidates[8] for the U.S. House and U.S. Senate.

In 2020, 314 Action stated their goal was to "shame" Republicans and their donors who did not take the COVID-19 pandemic seriously, particularly Ron DeSantis, Mike DeWine, and Greg Abbott. Resistance to mask mandates, social distancing, lockdowns, and mandatory vaccinations were cited.[9]

### 2024 election

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314 Action spent $1.2 million on ads backing Maxine Dexter in her bid to succeed Earl Blumenauer, who retired from his seat representing Oregon's 3rd congressional district.[10] The Intercept has reported that these funds were provided by the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC, which opposes one of Dexter's opponents, Susheela Jayapal.[11]

More than a third of its $1.4 million in receipts reported in April 2024 came from a single donation from Michael Bloomberg. Both of Dexter's main primary opponents, Susheela Jayapal and Eddy Morales, allege that 314 Action is a front for Republican and pro-Israel interests attempting to conceal their involvement in the election.[12] Bloomberg and Granieri are both strongly supportive of Israel and 314 Action's top three donors in April collectively contributed two-thirds of the group's funds.[13] AIPAC's involvement was confirmed on June 20, with $1.3 million disbursed by UDP to the anti-Susheela Jayapal PAC Voters for Responsive Government, $1 million to 314 Action , and $100,000 to EDW Action Fund.[14]

In 2024, 314 Action supported seven STEM candidates who were newly elected to Congress[15], including Rep. John Mannion (NY-22)[16], Rep. Janelle Bynum (OR-05), Rep. George Whitesides (CA-27), Rep. Maxine Dexter (OR-03)[17], Rep. Herb Conaway[17] (NJ-03), Rep. Luz Rivas (CA-29)[16], and Rep. Kelly Morrison[17] (MN-03).

## References

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1. ^ a b c d Kaplan, Sarah. "This group wants to fight 'anti-science' rhetoric by getting scientists to run for office". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
2. ^ Yong, Ed (January 25, 2017). "Thanks to Trump, Scientists Are Planning to Run for Office". The Atlantic. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
3. ^ "'It’s important to have scientific voices heard at all levels of government' Archived October 10, 2017, at the Wayback Machine". Los Angeles Times. December 15, 2017.
4. ^ Martin, Michel (February 26, 2017). "Fearing Climate Change Policy Under Trump, STEM Group Works To Get Scientists Elected". All Things Considered. National Public Radio.
5. ^ Livni, Ephrat (December 15, 2017). "Scientists in the US are running for office to combat the science-denial descending on DC". QZ.com. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
6. ^ "314 Action Fund PAC to PAC/Party". OpenSecrets.
7. ^ Diamond, Dan (February 28, 2025). "Democrats launch effort to get 100 doctors into elected office". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 11, 2025.
8. ^ "314 Action". Ballotpedia.
9. ^ Gomez, Henry J. (September 2021). "Progressive group seeks to shame GOP governors and their donors over lax pandemic leadership". NBC. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
10. ^ VanderHart, Dirk (April 25, 2024). "Rush of outside spending turns heads in contest to replace US Rep. Earl Blumenauer". Retrieved May 5, 2024.
11. ^ Grim, Ryan (May 3, 2024). "AIPAC Is Secretly Intervening in Portland's Congressional Race to Take Down Susheela Jayapal, Sources Say". The Intercept. Retrieved May 5, 2024.
12. ^ "'We're asking for transparency': Candidates say 'dark money' is pouring into Oregon's 3rd Congressional District race". kgw.com. May 8, 2024. Retrieved July 10, 2025.
13. ^ Edge, Sami (May 20, 2024). "Michael Bloomberg among top donors to PAC supporting Maxine Dexter". The Oregonian. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
14. ^ "Schedule B for ALL Line #'s". Federal Election Commission. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
15. ^ "Endorsed Candidates, US House". 314 Action. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
16. ^ a b Myskow; Pillion; Gustin; McKenna, Wyatt; Dennis; Georgina; Phil (November 9, 2025). "Despite Likely Setback for Climate Action With This Year's Election, New Climate Champions Set to Enter Congress". InsiderClimate News. Retrieved August 8, 2025.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
17. ^ a b c McAuliff, Michael (August 6, 2025). "Democrats recruit doctors for Congress after GOP health cuts". Modern Healthcare. Retrieved August 8, 2025.

## Sources

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* Astor, Maggie (January 13, 2019). "An Ocean Engineer and a Nuclear Physicist Walk Into Congress ..." New York Times.
* Goldberg, Emma (May 9, 2020). "Nightly Applause Is Nice, but Some Doctors Think Votes Would Be Nicer". New York Times.
* Harmon, Amy; Fountain, Henry (February 6, 2017). "In Age of Trump, Scientists Show Signs of a Political Pulse". New York Times.
* Koebler, Jason (January 10, 2017). "As a Response to Trump, This Group Is Drafting Scientists to Run for Office". Motherboard. Vice. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
* Marks, Joseph (May 20, 2019). "The Cybersecurity 202: These political candidates are running on their cybersecurity expertise". The Washington Post.
* Mukherjee, Sy (January 25, 2017). "Scientists Gear Up to Run for Office In a World of 'Alternate Facts". Fortune. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
* Yong, Ed (February 28, 2018). "Here's How The Scientists Running for Office Are Doing". The Atlantic.

## External links

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* Official website