Changes to campaign finance laws over the last few cycles have allowed a new breed of political action committees to develop, and several of these liberal, hybrid PACs have already been created to help win Hillary Clinton the White House in 2016.
A 2012 Federal Election Commission decision allowed these so-called “Carey committees” to be established. These hybrid PACs can maintain two separate accounts: “one for contributions to federal candidates and parties, and the other for independent expenditures, to which unlimited contributions can be made,” according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks political fundraising.
So far in the 2016 cycle, Republican candidates and conservative issues are maintaining their traditional edge in outside spending by the various 501(c) groups, thus named for the section of the tax code under which they incorporate, and “super PACs.”
But Democrats are ahead when it comes to the new hybrid PACs, and several have sprung up to help Clinton’s cause.
In the first six months of 2015, collectively they have already generated $11.3 million, mostly through unrestricted donations that will fund independent expenditures, CRP said.
Here are the four biggest liberal Carey committees, according to the Center for Responsive Politics:
Ready PAC
Formed in 2014, the Ready PAC is officially called the Ready for Hillary PAC.
Its biggest contributors include former Sen. Jon Corzine. The New Jersey Democrat and one-time Goldman Sachs CEO has ponied up $50,000 to the PAC since the beginning of the year. Its biggest contributor so far is Amy Goldman Fowler, an author and “heirloom plant conservationist.” Daughter of the-late Sol Goldman, a New York real estate billionaire tycoon, Goldman Fowler has contributed $250,000.
Other top contributors are philanthropist Barbara Lee of Boston ($189,000), Priorities USA Action ($150,000), and Moko Social Media ($105,000). David E. Shaw, who founded the investment firm D.E. Shaw & Co., and his wife Abigail Disney, whose great-uncle was Walt Disney, have donated $75,000. Major liberal donor and philanthropist George Soros has contributed $25,000.
The PAC has raised almost $3.2 million so far this cycle, all of which was funneled into its independent expenditure account. In the 2014 cycle, it raised almost $13 million and spent just more than $12 million.
Correct the Record
This PAC describes itself as “a strategic research and rapid response team designed to defend Hillary Clinton from baseless attacks.”
Formed this year, it has raised more than $1.4 million so far. Its biggest individual donors are wealthy individuals such as John Goldman of San Francisco ($250,000), Patricia Stryker of Colorado ($250,000), and Barbara Lee ($150,000). Lee, of the Boston-based Barbara Lee Family Foundation, also contributed $189,000 to Ready PAC.
Goldman is a retired president of the San Francisco Symphony and son of the-late Richard Goldman, a philanthropist who made his fortune founding Goldman Insurance and Risk Management. He also created the Goldman Environmental Prize.
Stryker is the granddaughter of Stryker Corp. founder Homey Stryker. Although officially funded by anonymous donors, members of the Stryker family are believed to be largely behind the “the Kalamazoo Promise,” a scholarship program that offers all graduates of Kalamazoo, Mich. public schools free or reduced tuition at Michigan universities. Stryker is headquartered in Kalamazoo.
Clinton’s official campaign, Hillary for America, is Correct the Record’s single-biggest contributor, and has donated $275,615.
All its receipts were also parked in the organization’s independent expenditure account.
Progressive Women of Silicon Valley
Formed this cycle, the group has raised almost $1 million this year, almost exclusively from philanthropist Laure Woods, an L.K. Whittier Foundation director in Portola Valley, Calif.
The group’s objective is to “advance women’s causes on local, national and international levels,” according to its website.
Woods, formerly Laure Woods Kastanis, has worked as a clinical researcher for Bay Area pharmaceutical companies such as like Matrix Pharmaceutical and Genelabs Technologies. She has donated tens of thousands of dollars to Democratic candidates and liberal groups nationally over the years, including EMILY’s List and Planned Parenthood, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
She was also a major contributor to President Obama.
Help Elect Women
This PAC is “dedicated to getting more progressive women leaders in office,” according to its website, also primarily focuses on assisting Clinton.
Formed in the 2014 cycle, it has taken in $148,139 so far this year. All of its contributions came from small, individual donors and therefore could be redirected to individual candidates or party committees.
