Formed in 2017, Progressive Takeover is a political action committee (PAC) that works to elect members of the left wing of the Democratic Party for seats in state legislatures controlled by Republicans¹

Progressive Takeover was established in 2017 by Harry Pascal, founder of Progressive Turnout Project and Stop Republicans. ^{1 2}

Activities

The group works to boost Democratic voter participation rates in “the most competitive state-level races in the country,” with the goal of turning “red” legislative districts into “blue” districts. ¹

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Progressive Takeover teamed up with dozens of left-wing nonprofits and political advocacy groups, including Women’s March National, 18MillionRising, and MPower Change, to sign a petition requesting that states provide universal access to mail-in ballots for the 2020 elections. ³ The petition, organized by the left-of-center media website Daily Kos, claimed that all-mail elections protect the health of the electorate and help ensure integrity of the election results, as paper ballots boast an “unhackable” security advantage ³

Funding

2020 Elections

Progressive Takeover is funded by individual donors, Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings show. ⁴ In the 18-month period from January 2019 through the end of June 2020, Progressive Takeover amassed over $3 million in revenue, which is more than twice the amount it had earned over the previous 24-month period. ⁵ By the end of the 2020 election cycle, Progressive Takeover had raised $8,683,953.33 and spent $7,869,210.41. The largest individual donations were $5,000 contributions from San Francisco-based doctor Robert Patton; retired John Deere dealers Roger and Sylvia Thieme; Canadian-born philanthropist and former sports franchise owner Charles Bronfman; Chicago-based advertising agency CEO Dale Taylor; retired Venice, Florida resident Kevin Marshall; and Miami Beach-based doctor Angel Triana. But the group raised the bulk of its revenue from un-itemized small dollar donations raised through ActBlue. Most of the money raised was transferred to the affiliated groups Progressive Turnout Project and Stop Republicans. ⁶

Other than transferring money to affiliated PACs, Progressive Takeover’s largest vendor in the cycle was digital vendor Mothership Strategies. ⁷

2022 Elections

During the 2022 Election cycle, Progressive Takeover raised $7,112,162.78 and spent $7,664,079.28. While the group raised the bulk of its money through un-itemized small dollar contributions raised through ActBlue, the group received $5,000 contributions from Alton Arnall Thomasson, a wealthy heir from Atlanta, Georiga; Dale Taylor, an advertising executive from Chicago; Joyce Schoeneberg, a retired woman from Chesterfield, Missouri; and Rachel Irelan, a retired woman from Walnut Creek, California. The majority of money raised was redirected through Progressive Turnout Project and Stop Republicans, and the largest single vendor to the group that cycle was Mothership Strategies. ⁸

2024 Elections

During the 2024 Election cycle, Progressive Takeover raised $19,406,253.94 and spent $19,558,364.95. The group raised most of its money through un-itemized small dollar contributions raised through ActBlue. But the group receive several $5,000 from small contributions including David Peyton, a retired man from Virginia; Herb Johnson, the president of engineering company HVJ Associates; Judith Golding, a restauranter from Baltimore; Gay Phinny, a retired woman from Santa Monica, California; and Alan E. Kligerman, a retired man from New Jersey. The majority of contributions raised by Progressive Takeover were redirected to Progressive Turnout Project and Stop Republicans, with the largest vendors that cycle being Mothership Strategies and digital consulting firm Message Digital. ⁹

2026 Elections

As of June 2025, Progressive Takeover had raised $2,931,543.36 in the 2026 election cycle, with most being directed through Progressive Turnout Project. ¹⁰

Controversies

One of Progressive Takeover’s vendors, Mothership Strategies, has been accused of using false and “alarmist” fundraising techniques while holding onto a majority of the money it raises. ⁷

In August 2024, the Los Angeles Times’ Jon Healey published a story about fundraising groups using controversial political fundraising techniques via text messaging with one of the groups profiled being Progressive Takeover. After unsubscribing to unsolicited text messages from the Progressive Turnout Project, Healey alleges he started receiving text messages from Progressive Takeover the next day. ¹¹

In October 2024, a CNN investigation reported that groups affiliated with the Progressive Turnout Project received over $155,000 from what the network called vulnerable elderly donors, some of whom may suffer dementia. ¹²

Leadership

Alex Morgan is the executive director of Progressive Takeover. Morgan also oversees the organization’s affiliates, Progressive Turnout Project and Stop Republicans. Progressive Takeover founder Harry Pascal also serves as treasurer of the organization. ²

Affiliated Groups

Progressive Turnout Project and Stop Republicans—both left-of-center political action committees (PACS)—are affiliated with Progressive Takeover. ¹³

1. “About Us.” Progressive Takeover. Accessed July 27, 2020. https://progressivetakeover.org/about/.
2. “Our Work” Progressive Takeover. Accessed July 27, 2020. https://progressivetakeover.org/ourwork/.
3. “Sign the Petition to Your State Election Officials: Vote by Mail Must Be Available to ALL Voters.” Action Network. Accessed June 11, 2020. https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-the-petition-to-your-state-election-officials-vote-by-mail-must-be-available-to-all-voters.
4. “FEC Disclosure Form 3X for Progressive Takeover.” Federal Election Commission. Accessed September 2, 2020. https://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/forms/C00659599/1422943/.
5. “Progressive Takeover – Financial Summary.” Federal Election Commission. Accessed September 2, 2020. https://www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00659599/.
6. “Progressive Takeover – Committee Overview.” Federal Election Commission, www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00659599/?cycle=2020. Accessed September 15, 2025.
7.  Lippman, Daniel, and Hailey Fuchs. “Inside the Rebirth of Mothership Strategies, a Controversial Democratic Fundraising Juggernaut .” Politico, November 24, 2023, www.politico.com/news/2023/11/24/mothership-strategies-democratic-fundraising-00128548.
8. “Progressive Takeover – Committee Overview.” Federal Election Commission, www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00659599/?cycle=2022. Accessed September 15, 2025.
9.  “Progressive Takeover – Committee Overview.” Federal Election Commission, www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00659599/?cycle=2024. Accessed September 15, 2025.
10. “Progressive Takeover – Committee Overview.” Federal Election Commission, www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00659599/?cycle=2026. Accessed September 15, 2025.
11. Healey, Jon. “Tired of Text Spam from Political Fundraisers? Here’s What to Do.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, August 2, 2024, www.latimes.com/politics/story/2024-08-02/spam-texts-from-political-fundraisers-hard-to-stop.
12. Manley, Byron, Lou Robinson, Casey Tolan, Anna-Maja Rappard, Kyung Lah, Audrey Ash, Yahya Abou-Ghazala, Melanie Hicken, and Blake Ellis. “How Elderly Dementia Patients Are Unwittingly Fueling Political Campaigns.” CNN, October 22, 2024. https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2024/10/politics/political-fundraising-elderly-election-invs-dg/.
13. Statement of Organization (FEC Form 1). 2019. https://docquery.fec.gov/pdf/527/201904189149493527/201904189149493527.pdf.