Former Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner is leading a new super PAC that aims to give Republicans running for Congress in 2022 a critical, early fundraising boost.
The National Victory Action Fund launched quietly late last year to assist two Republican incumbents on the ballot in a pair of Senate runoffs in Georgia. The Democrats swept those contests. But Gardner and other veteran Republicans on the board of the super PAC were pleased with the organization’s accomplishments and decided to keep the lights on for President Biden’s first midterm election.
This cycle, the National Victory Action Fund plans to endorse a range of Republican congressional candidates and focus narrowly on helping them building their grassroots fundraising infrastructure.
“Our north star is to help Republicans elect a governing majority in the House and Senate,” said Matt Gorman, a spokesman for the group. “We want to get money to candidates earlier, so that they have more control over their campaigns.” Gardner, a former chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee who lost reelection in November, is the chairman of the super PAC’s board.
Lucrative email fundraising lists, a crucial component of any viable congressional campaign, can take years, and millions of dollars, to develop. This can create daunting political and financial hurdles for otherwise formidable incumbents or promising challengers. The National Victory Action Fund wants to speed up the process and fill the gap in the meantime.
So, rather than air persuasion advertising on a candidate’s behalf, the super PAC, drawing from its own cache of email lists, plans to run digital fundraising appeals. The money collected will flow directly into the candidate’s coffers. Perhaps most importantly, the group will allow candidates to retain ownership of any email address that generates a campaign contribution.
The National Victory Action Fund raised $14.9 million from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31 of last year, according to a year-end Federal Election Commission filing. The group entered 2021 with $10.1 million in cash on hand and $5.4 million in debts.
In addition to Gardner, board members include Jeff Larson, a former chief of staff at the Republican National Committee, former Rep. Mimi Walters of California, and GOP strategist Beth Myers, a longtime confidant of Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah.
