Also see Every Voice Center (Nonprofit)

Every Voice is a 501(c)(4) organization based in Washington D.C., that was created in 2014 when the Public Campaign Action Fund merged with Friends of Democracy.

Although it claims that it exists to remove the emphasis of money in politics, Every Voice uses its affiliated super PACs, Every Voice Action¹ and Friends of Democracy,² to donate large amounts of money to political campaigns and candidates.

Every Voice claims to be nonpartisan; however, the organization endorsed Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Presidential election while admitting she “has long participated in” the campaign finance system Every Voice claims to oppose.³

Background

Every Voice is a 501(c)(4) lobbying group that was established in 1997 as Public Campaign Action Fund, an affiliate of Public Campaign. It was founded by Nick Nyhart and other political activists in 1997.⁴

In 2014, the Public Campaign Action Fund merged with Friends of Democracy, a super PAC launched in 2012 by Jonathan Soros.⁵Soros had founded Friends of Democracy to target House Republicans who opposed government-funded elections and other restrictions on campaign-related speech. ⁶

The two organizations merged, creating what is now known as Every Voice and its sister organization, Every Voice Center.⁷ After the transition, the groups created another super PAC called Every Voice Action.

Campaigns

Every Voice claims that its work focuses on removing the emphasis of money in politics and supporting “small-donor elections programs.”⁸

Despite Every Voice’s mission statement, the organization, through its affiliated super PAC Every Voice Action, uses large amounts of money on independent expenditures during political campaigns. Every Voice has also used Friends of Democracy similarly in the past, however, the super PAC has not spent more than $50,000 since 2014.⁹

In 2014 Every Voice donated $377,074 to Every Voice Action, while Friends of Democracy donated $1,220,000.¹⁰

That year, Every Voice Action spent $1,860,721 against Republican candidates, and $71,256 to help Democrats.¹¹

In the 2016 Presidential Election, Every Voice endorsed Hillary Clinton.¹²

According to Every Voice’s President and CEO, David Donnelly, the organization chose to endorse Hillary Clinton due to her stance on campaign finance. Donnelly claimed that Clinton addressed “increased participation through a small donor matching system,” while pushing for “transparency and better administration of campaign finance laws.”¹³

Finances

Jonathan Soros, the Open Society Policy Center, the Tides Foundation, the Tides Voter Action Fund, and the Communications Workers of America have all donated at least $5,000 to Every Voice since January 1, 2015.¹⁴

People

Nick Nyhart co-founded Public Campaign¹⁵, a left-of-center nonprofit organization which merged with Friends of Democracy, a super PAC founded by Jonathan Soros, to create Every Voice in 2014.¹⁶

After Public Campaign merged with Friends of Democracy to create Every Voice, Nyhart took the helm of Every Voice’s sister organization, Every Voice Center.

Nyhart was the director for Northeast Action Money and Politics Project from 1992 before founding Public Campaign and the Public Campaign Action Fund.¹⁷

David Donnelly is the current president and CEO of Every Voice¹⁸ and the treasurer of its super PAC, Every Voice Action.¹⁹ Donnelly is still listed as the treasurer for Friends of Democracy.²⁰

1. The Center for Responsive Politics. “Every Voice Action Outside Spending Summary 2014.” OpenSecrets.org. Accessed March 27, 2018. https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00566208&cycle=2014.
2. The Center for Responsive Politics. “Friends of Democracy Expenditures, 2014 Cycle.” OpenSecrets.org. Accessed March 27, 2018. https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/expenditures.php?cmte=C00520080&cycle=2014.
3. Blumenthal, Paul. “Campaign Finance Reformers Endorse Hillary Clinton.” HuffPost UK. September 23, 2016. Accessed March 27, 2018. https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/hillary-clinton-campaign-finance_us_57e45147e4b0e28b2b532700.
4. “Every Voice Center.” Ballotpedia. Accessed March 27, 2018. https://ballotpedia.org/Every_Voice_Center.
5. Every Voice. “20 Years of Strengthening Democracy.” Every Voice. Accessed March 27, 2018. https://everyvoice.org/20thanniversary.
6. Eggen, Dan. “Son of Liberal Financier George Soros Launches Anti-super PAC Super PAC.” The Washington Post. July 12, 2012. Accessed March 27, 2018. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/son-of-liberal-financier-george-soros-launches-anti-super-pac-super-pac/2012/07/12/gJQABQlufW_story.html?utm_term=.5e455a704b57.
7. Blumenthal, Paul. “‘We’ve Completely Won The Debate On The Problem Of Money In Politics’.” HuffPost UK. August 01, 2014. Accessed March 27, 2018. https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/campaign-finance-reform_n_5642339.
8. Every Voice. “Solutions.” Every Voice. Accessed March 27, 2018. https://everyvoice.org/solutions.
9. The Center for Responsive Politics. “Friends of Democracy Summary.” OpenSecrets.org. Accessed March 27, 2018. https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?cycle=2018&strID=C00520080.
10. The Center for Responsive Politics. “Every Voice Action Top Donors, 2014 Cycle.” OpenSecrets.org. Accessed March 27, 2018. https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/contrib.php?cmte=C00566208&cycle=2014.
11. The Center for Responsive Politics. “Every Voice Action Targeted Candidates, 2014 Cycle.” OpenSecrets.org. Accessed March 27, 2018. https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/recips.php?cmte=C00566208&cycle=2014.
12. Blumenthal, Paul. “Campaign Finance Reformers Endorse Hillary Clinton.” HuffPost UK. September 23, 2016. Accessed March 27, 2018. https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/hillary-clinton-campaign-finance_us_57e45147e4b0e28b2b532700.
13. Blumenthal, Paul. “Campaign Finance Reformers Endorse Hillary Clinton.” HuffPost UK. September 23, 2016. Accessed March 27, 2018. https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/hillary-clinton-campaign-finance_us_57e45147e4b0e28b2b532700.
14. Every Voice. “Financials.” Every Voice. Accessed March 27, 2018. https://everyvoice.org/about-us/financials.
15. “Arena Profile: Nick Nyhart.” The Arena: – Nick Nyhart Bio. Accessed March 27, 2018. https://www.politico.com/arena/bio/nick_nyhart.html.

16. Eggen, Dan. “Son of Liberal Financier George Soros Launches Anti-super PAC Super PAC.” The Washington Post. July 12, 2012. Accessed March 27, 2018. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/son-of-liberal-financier-george-soros-launches-anti-super-pac-super-pac/2012/07/12/gJQABQlufW_story.html?utm_term=.5e455a704b57.
17. Every Voice Center. “Staff.” Every Voice Center. Accessed March 27, 2018. https://www.everyvoicecenter.org/staff/.
18. “About Us.” Every Voice. Accessed March 27, 2018. https://everyvoice.org/about-us.
19. “EVERY VOICE ACTION – Committee Overview.” FEC.gov. Accessed March 27, 2018. https://www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00566208/?tab=about-committee.
20. “FRIENDS OF DEMOCRACY – Committee Overview.” FEC.gov. Accessed March 27, 2018. https://www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00520080/?tab=about-committee.