The proliferation of super PACs will lead to a barrage of ads this year — particularly in the Senate’s battleground states

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Democrats' super PAC cavalry
Democrats easily outpace Republicans in super PAC fundraising race
By Michael Beckel, Ben Wieder, and Erin Quinn, February 4, 2014

Democrats are embracing super PACs — the independent political money groups they once derided — and are easily outpacing Republicans in the race for cash, according to the most recent campaign finance filings.

In 2013, the three highest-profile Democratic super PACs focused on congressional elections collectively raised more than $22 million — about four times more than their five mainstream GOP counterparts, according to a Center for Public Integrity analysis of new filings submitted to the Federal Election Commission.

Republicans, meanwhile, are again facing an intraparty struggle as tea party-affiliated super PACs take aim at mainstream Republicans in primary battles.

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Billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch have spent millions backing conservative causes — the specter of their involvement this year has become an effective fundraising tool for the Democrats.

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While Democratic-aligned groups are winning the fundraising race as of now, deep-pocketed donors can shift the scales overnight should they choose to pour new money into either super PACs or politically active nonprofits, the favored vehicles of the Kochs.

Poor showing for GOP
American Crossroads and the Conservative Victory Project, two super PACs connected to GOP strategist Karl Rove, each reported comparatively paltry receipts in 2013. American Crossroads, which was the top-spending super PAC during the 2010 midterm election, raised about $3.6 million in 2013. And the Conservative Victory Project raised just $16,500.

Two other GOP-aligned super PACs focused on helping the party retain control of the House — the Congressional Leadership Fund and the YG Action Fund —raised $1.1 million and $344,000, respectively.

And a recently launched super PAC called America Rising, which specializes in opposition research, much like the Democrats’ American Bridge, raised about $478,000. One of its top donors was Restore Our Future, the super PAC that attempted to boost Republican Mitt Romney during the 2012 presidential race, that gave it $100,000.

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First though, the GOP establishment must survive an intraparty fight, where conservative hardliners — armed with their own super PACs and nonprofits — are pushing Republican candidates rightward and even angling for their preferred candidates to triumph over incumbents they dislike.

Groups such as the Club for Growth and Senate Conservatives Fund — which have tapped into the energy and pocketbooks of tea party and anti-tax activists — are looking to replace GOP senators who they deem insufficiently conservative.

Republicans vs. Republicans
The potential targets include Mississippi’s Sen. Thad Cochran, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Club for Growth President Chris Chocola, a former Republican congressman from Indiana, has made it clear that his group is not afraid to go after incumbents.

Club for Growth’s political machine, he said last year “helps elect candidates who support limited government and free markets. Unfortunately, the two goals coincide less often than the Republican establishment cares to admit. “

The sentiment has also been echoed by Jim DeMint, the former South Carolina Republican senator who founded the Senate Conservatives Fund and now serves as president of the Heritage Foundation.

“We must remember that there is a distinction between the Republican Party and the conservative movement,” DeMint declared at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C. “National Republican leaders have not advanced a conservative agenda for almost 20 years.”

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Super PACs to ‘scare off opponents’
Super PACs supporting the candidacy of a single politician have become increasingly commonplace.

“Candidate-specific super PACs can help scare off opponents or signal to opponents and potential opponents that their favored candidate will have ample funding,” said Jessica Levinson, a professor at the Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.

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Republicans are not the only ones getting in on the action.

Allies of embattled Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan of North Carolina recently launched a group called Wolfheel PAC, and Sen. Mark Begich of Alaska is being backed by a super PAC called Put Alaska First.

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'Ready for Hillary' to play in midterms
At least two Democratic-aligned, candidate-specific super PACs are also already making preparations for the next presidential race.

The first is Ready for Hillary, which was formed a year ago. The other is Priorities USA Action, which helped President Barack Obama win a second term in the White House and now plans to aid Hillary Clinton, should she opt to run in 2016.

Ready for Hillary spokesman Seth Bringman told the Center for Public Integrity that his group, which raised $4 million in 2013, will engage in races in which Clinton herself has endorsed candidates.

“We will conduct additional efforts to amplify Hillary’s endorsements,” Bringman said. “Success in the midterm elections is vital to our party.”

Peter Kauffmann, a spokesman for Priorities USA Action, meanwhile, said that his group, which still has $3 million in reserves, does not intend to be involved in the 2014 midterm elections.

As Democratic and Republican groups alike look to keep increasing the size of their war chests, one thing’s for certain: The proliferation of super PACs will lead to a barrage of ads this year — particularly in the Senate’s battleground states.

“Residents of states with high-profile Senate races will be inundated with ads,” said Erika Franklin Fowler, a director of the Wesleyan Media Project, which monitors political advertising.

In many places, she continued, “ads have already started.”
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