Progressive Groups Held $80 Million at End of March: Filings

President Joe Biden speaks on "how the CHIPS and Science Act and his Investing in America agenda are growing the economy and creating jobs," at the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum in Syracuse, N.Y., on April 25, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

Progressive political action organizations pledged to spend hundreds of millions in support of President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party in 2024. But they aren’t breaking the bank just yet.

Between April 15 and April 20, political committees registered with the Federal Election Commission filed financial disclosures covering their fundraising and spending activities. These new filings show that nine groups, who have previously committed to spending close to $800 million in support of Democrats, held about $80.7 million in cash on hand at the end of March.

The Epoch Times previously reported that nine progressive organizations—American Bridge 21st Century, Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy, Climate Power, League of Conservation Voters, MoveOn, Republican Voters Against Trump, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Unite the Country, and VoteVets—were planning on spending about $792 million on the 2024 general election.

So far, according to their FEC filings, the groups have amassed only a tenth of that amount.

Opening Salvos

During the first three months of the year, various PACs tied to progressive groups collectively raised about $28 million while spending about $19.7 million.

FEC records show the groups associated with the League of Conservation Voters, MoveOn.Org, SEIU, and Unite The Country are beginning to make limited independent expenditures in support of candidates and transfers to candidate committees.

League of Conservation Voters maintains two PACs: LCV Victory Fund and League of Conservation Voters Action Fund.

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LCV Victory Fund’s FEC filings show that the group spent about $732,000 on the New York 3rd Congressional District special election in support of Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) in the first two months of the year.

As for the Action Fund, the committee is sending numerous small donations to Democratic Party Senate candidates running for seats in Florida, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, and Wisconsin. The fund is also sending contributions to numerous Democrats running for the House in districts across the country.

MoveOn spent about $23,000 on the effort to elect Mr. Suozzi, too.

Like the accounts tied to the League of Conservation Voters, the SEIU’s PAC—Service Employees International Union Committee on Political Education—sent contributions to various Democratic candidates running for the House and a committee backing Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.).

The SEIU PAC sent a number of large transfers to other committees.

First, it sent $1 million to a super PAC, For Our Future, in January. According to FEC records, For Our Future typically supports Democratic candidates. In 2020, the PAC spent about $5.6 million to aid President Joe Biden.

Second, in February, it sent $1.5 million to another super PAC, In Union USA. That PAC, according to FEC records, spent nearly $4 million on President Joe Biden in 2020.

Finally, SEIU’s PAC sent $875,000 to Development Now For Chicago, the host committee for the 2024 Democratic National Convention, in March.

Through the first three months, Unite The Country is the only group making good on its promise to directly support President Biden, according to the FEC. The super PAC spent about $268,000 on ad production and television and radio advertisements in February and March.

Dark Money Connections

Most of the organizations are nonprofit 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) groups. Unlike political committees regulated by the FEC, these 501 entities do not need to report their donors, nor do they promptly disclose how they are spending their money. Their financial activities in 2024 may not be known until the end of 2025. Because of this, 501s are often called dark money groups.

That said, the same organizations operate FEC-registered political action committees. Usually, the 501 groups donate to their affiliated PACs, which ultimately spend on political campaigns or other political activities like advertising and canvassing.

An Epoch Times analysis of FEC filings, which provide the most complete financial picture to date of how political committees are setting up for the 2024 election, shows that one group is taking in significant donations from its dark money counterpart.

A hybrid PAC tied to American Bridge 21st Century, a group specialized in finding and disclosing damaging information about Republican Party candidates, received $1.2 million from its ally, American Bridge 21st Century Foundation, over the first three months of the year.

George Soros, Founder and Chairman of the Open Society Foundations arrives for a meeting in Brussels, on April 27, 2017. (Olivier Hoslet/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

American Bridge’s PAC also received a $1.8 million contribution from Democracy PAC, a group tied to George Soros.

In 2023, according to FEC records, Mr. Soros was the only donor to Democracy PAC. In 2021 and 2022, according to FEC records, DemocracyPAC had two donors: Mr. Soros and the Fund for Policy Reform.

In 2022, the Fund for Policy Reform sent DemocracyPAC $25 million. Alexander Soros, George Soros’s son and the chair of Open Society Foundations, is a director of the fund, according to its tax documents.