Pennsylvania Stands Up PAC is a political action committee (PAC) associated with the left-of-center advocacy group Pennsylvania Stands Up. It is a hybrid PAC that assists in financing Pennsylvania Stands Up’s  advocacy for left-of-center prison, climate, and housing policies. ¹

Background

Pennsylvania Stands Up PAC is a left-of-center political action committee focused on advancing left-wing causes in Pennsylvania associated with the 501(c)(4) advocacy group Pennsylvania Stands Up. ²

Pennsylvania Stands Up was formed as a consolidation of local chapters in Pennsylvania dedicated to advocating for left-wing housing and voting policies. ³ Chapters have worked to end solitary confinement, ⁴ ensure “redistributive justice,” and enact “universal living wages.” ⁵ Carrie Santoro, the executive director of PA Stands Up ⁶ and a Lehigh Valley Stands Up founder, ⁷ is also the treasurer of PA Stands Up PAC. ⁸

Finances

From 2021-2022, Pennsylvania Stands Up PAC received $5,146 from Get Organized BK, ⁹ a New York-based PAC that granted the PAC’s affiliated 501(c)(4) Pennsylvania Stands Up $2,573 from 2021-2022. ¹⁰ This New York-based PAC also gave $3,196 to Peter Hogness, ¹¹ affiliated with the left-of-center group Seed the Vote. ¹² This group, dedicated to registering voters to elect left-wing candidates, named Pennsylvania Stands Up as a 2022 canvassing partner. ¹³ Seed the Vote focused its efforts on building the left in swing states. ¹⁴

Pennsylvania Stands Up receives a portion of its money from Pennsylvania Stands Up PAC, with the PAC paying it $212,867 in the 2022 election cycle. ¹⁵ PA Stands Up PAC also funds local PA Stands Up chapters such as Lancaster Stands Up, ¹⁶ Lehigh Valley Stands Up, ¹⁷ and NEPA Stands Up. ¹⁸

From 2019-2020, the PAC received $27,441 from the San Francisco-based left-of-center Everyday People PAC ¹⁹ and $5,000 from the AFL-CIO member union Communications Workers of America. ²⁰

From 2020-2022, it made 100% of its independent expenditures on behalf of Democratic Party candidates. According to OpenSecrets, Pennsylvania Stands Up PAC made $119,726 in expenditures on behalf of Joe Biden in the 2020 cycle ²¹ and $161,583 in the 2022 cycle. ²²

1. “Pennsylvania Stands Up PAC Expenditures.” OpenSecrets. Accessed September 22, 2022. https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/pennsylvania-stands-up/C00743021/expenditures/2022.
2. “Up to Us.” Pennsylvania Stands Up. Accessed September 22, 2022. https://pastandsup.org/up-to-us/.
3. “Up to Us.” Pennsylvania Stands Up. Accessed September 22, 2022. https://pastandsup.org/up-to-us/.
4. “PA Stands Up Announces Victory.” Pennsylvania Stands Up. August 10, 2022. https://pastandsup.org/news/pa-stands-up-announces-victory-toward-ending-solitary-confinement-in-lackawanna-county/.
5. “Theory pf Change.” Reclaim Philadelphia. Accessed September 22, 2022. https://www.reclaimphiladelphia.org/vision.
6. “Up to Us.” Pennsylvania Stands Up. Accessed September 22, 2022. https://pastandsup.org/up-to-us/.
7. PA Stands Up. Twitter Post. August 4, 2022, 11:30 am. https://twitter.com/pastandsup/status/1422942906415976448?lang=en.
8.  “Statement of Organization.” Federal Election Commission. Accessed September 22, 2022. https://docquery.fec.gov/pdf/579/202207209522440579/202207209522440579.pdf#navpanes=0
9. “Pennsylvania Stands Up PAC to PAC/Party.” OpenSecrets. Accessed September 22, 2022. https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/pennsylvania-stands-up/C00743021/pac-to-pac/2022.
10. “Get Organized BK PAC Expenditures.” OpenSecrets. Accessed September 22, 2022.  https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/get-organized-bk/C00678078/expenditures/2022.
11. “Vendor/Recipient Profile: Hogness, Peter.” OpenSecrets. Accessed September 22, 2022. https://www.opensecrets.org/campaign-expenditures/vendor?cycle=2022&vendor=Hogness%2C+Peter.
12. Hogness, Peter. Twitter. Accessed September 22, 2022. https://twitter.com/peterhogness?lang=en.
13.  “Our 2022 Partners.” Seed the Vote. Accessed September 22, 2022. https://www.seedthevote.org/our-2022-partners/.
14. “Seed the Vote: Political Assessment.” Convergence. December 5, 2019. https://convergencemag.com/articles/seed-the-vote-political-assessment/.
15. “Vendor/Recipient Profile: Pennsylvania Stands Up.” OpenSecrets. Accessed September 22, 2022. https://www.opensecrets.org/campaign-expenditures/vendor?cycle=2022&vendor=Pennsylvania+Stands+Up.
16. Homepage. Lancaster Stands Up. Accessed September 22, 2022. https://lancasterstandsup.org/.
17. Homepage. Lehigh Valley Stands Up. Accessed September 22, 2022. https://lvstandsup.org/.
18. Homepage. NEPA Stands Up. Accessed September 22, 2022. https://www.nepastandsup.org/.
19. “Pennsylvania Stands Up PAC to PAC/Party.” OpenSecrets. Accessed September 22, 2022. https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/pennsylvania-stands-up/C00743021/pac-to-pac/2020
20. “Communication Workers of America (CWA).” InfluenceWatch. Accessed September 22, 2022. https://www.influencewatch.org/labor-union/communications-workers-of-america/.
21. “Pennsylvania Stands Up Independent Expenditures.” OpenSecrets. Accessed September 22, 2022. https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/pennsylvania-stands-up/C00743021/independent-expenditures/2020.
22. “Pennsylvania Stands Up Independent Expenditures.” OpenSecrets. Accessed September 22, 2022. https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/pennsylvania-stands-up/C00743021/independent-expenditures/2022.