CounterPAC

CounterPAC was a San Francisco-based super PAC (political action committee) co-founded in 2014 by online developer Jim Greer to oppose so-called “dark money” spending in election cycles by pressuring candidates to reject support from groups with undisclosed donors. The super PAC was active during the 2014 midterm elections as well as the 2016 presidential election cycle, advocating in congressional races through advertising and its “CounterPAC Pledge,” under which candidates would agree to donate a portion of outside spending made on their behalf to a charity chosen by their opponent. Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings show that the PAC ceased operations on June 1, 2018. 1  2

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At-A-Glance

Type: 527 (Political Action Committee), Super PAC
Ideological Alignment: Left of Center
Website: www.counterpac.org
Formation:

2014

Executive Director:

Jay Costa

Dissolved:

2018

Contents

    Background

    CounterPAC was a super PAC co-founded in 2014 by online developer Jim Greer 3 to oppose so-called “dark money” spending by pushing congressional candidates to reject campaign spending from groups with undisclosed donors. 1 According to its first post on Twitter in July 2014, the group claimed “Attention secret donors: we are coming to get you.” 4

    According to reporting, CounterPAC was allegedly created in response to the 2010 U.S Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. FEC that eased restrictions on corporate and union spending in election cycles. The super PAC was active during the 2014 midterm elections as well as the 2016 presidential election cycle.  5 According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings, CounterPAC ceased operations on June 1, 2018. 2

    Activities

    During the 2014 midterm elections, CounterPAC focused advocacy on several congressional races including U.S. Senate elections in Georgia and Alaska and U.S. House elections in West Virginia. 1

    In addition to releasing campaign ads, CounterPAC advocated that congressional candidates sign its “CounterPAC Pledge,” in which candidates would commit to donating 50 percent of any money spent on their behalf by a group with undisclosed donors to a charity of their opponent’s choice. 1

    In 2014, CounterPAC ran a full-page ad urging West Virginia candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives Evan Jenkins (R) and Nick Rahall (D) to ban all outside spending and PAC donations in their congressional race. Rahall rejected Jenkins’s offer to mutually agree to CounterPAC’s proposal. 6

    Funding and Finances

    According to CounterPAC’s website, listed individual donors including Jim Greer, former Google executive Matt Cutts, venture capitalist Roy Bahat, tech entrepreneur Ethan Beard, gaming engineer Ron Carmel, InMarket co-founder Todd DiPaola, and Silicon Valley attorney Ted Wang. 7  8

    In the 2016 election cycle CounterPAC spent $212,265 against former Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV) and $121,550 against former Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO). There was no other reported candidate spending. 9  10

    Its top expenditures in 2014 went towards media and strategy support, including consulting firm Groundswell Strategies and the Citizen Engagement Laboratory. In 2016 its top expenditure went to the Citizen Engagement Laboratory for strategy and research support. 11  12

    Leadership

    Jim Greer was the co-founder of CounterPAC. He was the founder and former CEO of video game publisher Kongregate, selling it in 2010. 13 As of 2026 he was listed as a senior director for online gaming group Roblox as well as a former board member of left-of-center Represent.Us. 14  15

    Zack Booth Simpson was the co-founder of CounterPAC having previously worked as a research fellow at the University of Texas Center for Systems and Synthetic Biology. 1 As of 2026 he was the founder and president of software company Zig-Saw. 16

    Jay Costa was the former executive director of CounterPAC prior to its closing in 2018. Previously he was program director of MapLight and a national coordinator for Rootstrikers, a campaign finance advocacy which became a project of Demand Progress in 2013.  1 He was also former political director for Voters’ Right to Know. 17

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    References

    1. Matea Gold. “Yet another super PAC is using big money to take on big money.” The Washington Post. July 31, 2014. Accessed July 10, 2026. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2014/07/31/yet-another-super-pac-is-using-big-money-to-take-on-big-money/
    2. “CounterPAC.” Federal Election Commission – Campaign Finance Data. Accessed July 9, 2026. https://www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00566778/?tab=filings#statements
    3. Reddit post – r/IAmA. Posted 2014. Accessed July 9, 2026. https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2c9icl/i_started_kongregate_and_just_launched_counterpac/
    4. X – CounterPAC. Posted July 31, 2014. Accessed July 9, 2026. https://x.com/CounterPAC
    5. Adelle Nazarian. “Silicon Valley-Based Counterpac Plans Assault on ‘Dark Money’.” Breitbart. January 28, 2016. Accessed July 10, 2026. https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2016/01/28/counterpac-dark-money/
    6. David Gutman. “Rahall rejects Jenkins’ bid to ban outside money.” Charleston Gazette-Mail. August 1, 2014. Updated October 27, 2017. Accessed July 9, 2026. https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/politics/rahall-rejects-jenkins-bid-to-ban-outside-money/article_70a6117b-d346-500e-a5e1-f457cd30c76f.html
    7. “Who We Are – Donors.” CounterPAC. Web archive from February 29, 2016. Accessed July 10, 2026. https://web.archive.org/web/20160229080658/http://www.counterpac.org/people/donors/
    8. Paul Steinhauser. “First on CNN: New PAC launches ads to limit flood of outside spending.” CNN. July 30, 2014. Web archive from March 6, 2016. Accessed July 10, 2026. https://web.archive.org/web/20160306223133/http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/07/30/first-on-cnn-new-pac-launches-ads-to-limit-flood-of-outside-spending/
    9. “CounterPAC Recipients, 2014.” Open Secrets. Accessed July 9, 2026. https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending/detail/2014?cmte=C00566778&tab=targeted_candidates
    10. “Mike Coffman.” Aurora Colorado. Accessed July 9, 2026. https://www.auroragov.org/city_hall/mayor___city_council/mayor___council_members/mike_coffman
    11. “Expenditures by CounterPAC, 2014.” Open Secrets. Accessed July 9, 2026. https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending/detail/2014?cmte=C00566778&tab=expenditures
    12. “Expenditures by CounterPAC, 2016.” Open Secrets. Accessed July 9, 2026. https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending/detail/2016?cmte=C00566778&tab=expenditures
    13. “Who We Are – Team.” CounpterPAC. Web archive from April 5, 2016. Accessed July 10, 2026. https://web.archive.org/web/20160405113101/http://www.counterpac.org/people/team/
    14. “About Us.” RepresentUs. Accessed July 10, 2026. https://represent.us/about/
    15. LinkedIn – Jim Greer. Accessed July 10, 2026. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimgreer/
    16. LinkedIn – Zack Booth Simpson. Accessed July 10, 2026. https://www.linkedin.com/in/zack-booth-simpson-1084b3/
    17. “The Team v2.” Voters’ Right To Know. Accessed July 10, 2026. https://votersrighttoknow.org/the-new-team/