The Victory 2021 Plan is a financial strategy organized by left-of-center Democracy Alliance-connected organizations Issue One and the Piper Fund to reduce the influence of political donations by 2021. ¹

Established in 2014, the Victory 2021 Plan is a project of both the Piper Fund and Issue One, left-of-center nonprofit groups focused on limiting campaign speech. The initiative has been described as a “sector-wide blueprint” to unite left-of-center activism and funding in order to pursue policies that would limit political spending. ^{1 2} Civitas Public Affairs, a left-leaning strategy and public relations firm, coordinates the project. ³

Initiatives and Advocacy

The Victory 2021 Plan was originally established to promote 2015 ballot initiatives that aimed to implement government-financed political campaigns in Maine and in the city of Seattle, Washington. Both initiatives passed that year. ⁴ The organization also supported statewide initiatives for public campaign funding in Washington and South Dakota, passing the South Dakota initiative. ⁴ Victory 2021 also unsuccessfully lobbied for a ballot initiative in Missouri. ⁴

In 2015 and 2016, Victory 2021 called for then-President Barack Obama to issue an executive order that would require federal contractors to disclose their political spending. ⁴

Victory 2021 has also published several left-of-center editorials promoting campaign finance regulations, including a piece in the New York Times. ⁴

Organizational Partnerships

The Piper Fund is a grantmaking initiative of the left-of-center Proteus Fund that focuses on increasing the number of liberal judges and ending the influence of political donations. ⁵ The Piper Fund backed ballot initiatives for government funding of campaigns in Howard County, Maryland and Berkeley, California. Both initiatives succeeded. ⁴

Issue One is a left-of-center nonprofit that focuses on restricting private campaign contributions. Issue One recruited a coalition of more than 150 former senators, governors, and representatives to join the “ReFormers Caucus” to build support around a left-of-center legislative agenda that would restrict campaign contributions. ⁴ Issue One praised the Victory 2021 Plan as a “battle-plan” for left-of-center reform that provides information for donors to allocate support for campaign finance reform organizations. ⁶

Victory 2021 has partnered with other campaign finance organizations, including Americans for Campaign Finance Reform (a group co-chaired by former U.S. Senators Bill Bradley (D-NJ), Bob Kerrey (D-NE), Alan Simpson (R-WY), and Warren Rudman (R-NH)) and the Fund for the Republic. ⁷

Connections to George Soros

Civitas Public Affairs, a left-leaning strategy and public relations firm that has been involved in liberal billionaire George Soros’s organizational network, is the lead organization funding Victory 2021. Civitas describes Victory 2021 as a “a multi-organization campaign, coordinated by Civitas Public Affairs, that aims to reduce the influence of money in politics by 2021.” ³

Jonathan Soros, the son of George, is on the Victory 2021 executive committee, and is involved in its work. ² The Victory 2021 Plan incorporates the Open Society Foundations’ work as one of four pillars. ²

1. Issue One. Benevity Cause Portal. Accessed September 26, 2020. https://causes.benevity.org/causes/840-320384285
2. Open Society Foundations U.S. Programs Board Meeting. February 11-12, 2016. Accessed September 26, 2020. https://fdik.org/soros.dcleaks.com/download/index.html%3Ff=%252Ffeb%25202016%2520usp%2520board%2520book.pdf&t=us
3. Markay, Lachlan. “Brock Conference Organizers Embody Dems’ Big Money Problem.” Washington Free Beacon. January 23, 2017. Accessed September 26, 2020. https://freebeacon.com/politics/brock-conference-organizers-embody-dems-big-money-problem/
4. Democracy Alliance 2020 Investment Portfolio. Fall 2016. Accessed September 26, 2020. https://www.influencewatch.org/app/uploads/2019/04/Democracy-Alliance-2020-Investment-Portfolio-Report.pdf
5. Piper Fund. Democracy Alliance. Accessed September 26, 2020. https://democracyalliance.org/organization/piper-fund/
6. Victory 2021. Issue One. June 8, 2015. September 26, 2020. https://www.issueone.org/colio/victory-2021/
7. “The Leading Coalition on Campaign Finance Reform.” Prezi. April 24, 2015. Accessed September 26, 2020. https://prezi.com/njwczpzr8oky/the-leading-coalition-on-campaign-finance-reform/