Republican Accountability PAC is an anti-Donald Trump advocacy group of self-described Republicans and conservatives funded predominantly by Democrats and Democratic-Party aligned organizations. In the 2024 Presidential election, Republican Accountability PAC launched the Republican Voters Against Trump (RVAT) campaign to promote on social media, billboards, and streaming services testimonies of people who had allegedly previously voted for President Donald Trump and decided to vote against him in 2024. ^{1 2 3 4}

Activities

Republican Accountability PAC is an organization of self-described “Republicans and conservatives” opposing President Donald Trump. The organization says it “hates” the changes President Trump made to the Republican Party, in particular what it views as President Trump’s efforts to remain in power without legal justification in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election. ¹

Republican Accountability PAC promotes Americans who previously voted for President Trump but decided to not vote for him again after what they believed were President Trump’s efforts “to overturn the 2020 election.” The organization promotes disaffected Trump voters through the campaign, Republican Voters Against Trump. ^{1 5}

Republican Voters Against Trump

The Republican Voters Against Trump campaign is run by Republican Accountability PAC. Republican Voters Against Trump claims that many Republicans only voted for former President Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020 because they disliked the alternative, but later came to the realization by 2024 that “a second Trump presidency would take America down one of the darkest paths in our history.” ^{5 6}

RVAT called the riot at the U.S. Capitol in January 6, 2021, a “violent insurrection” and claimed former President Trump was unfit for office because he fails to support Ukraine sufficiently in its war against Russia, because he said he intended to hire people in his administration who would carry out his vision of government, and because he has been indicted by his political opponents. ⁶

RVAT was most active in the 2024 presidential election. The campaign featured testimonies of alleged former Trump voters, many of whom were supporting then-Vice President Kamala Harris. Testimonies featured by RVAT included accusations that Trump doesn’t believe in God, is a bad role model, is an “a*****e,” and was a “threat to democracy,” and that those who are truly Christians cannot vote for Trump. RVAT featured hundreds of video testimonies of professed Republicans from every state, mostly of people who filmed themselves on its YouTube page. ⁷

During the 2024 presidential campaign, RVAT also launched a billboard advertising effort against Trump’s campaign in the swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. The billboards featured allegedly conservative voters declaring that they are former Trump voters who have decided not to vote for Trump again. At the same time, RVAT ran a $40 million YouTube and streaming platform ad campaign featuring former Trump administration deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews telling voters that President Trump is “a man of the lowest moral character.” ^{3 4}

Leadership

According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the treasurer of Republican Accountability PAC is Sarah Longwell, the executive director of Defending Democracy Together, a 501(c)(4) advocacy and incubation group led by self-described conservatives such as William “Bill” Kristol that oppose President Donald Trump’s campaign and administrations. ^{2 8 9}

Financials

According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), from January 2023 to December 2024, Republican Accountability PAC received $39,816,243 in contributions and reported $41,507,641 in total disbursements, including $36,750,840 in independent expenditures. Over that period the FEC reports that Republican Accountability PAC received over 1,500 donations. The three largest donations were from Reed Hastings ($6,908,816), the co-founder and co-CEO of Netflix and a major Democratic political donor; Defending Democracy Together ($5,000,000); and Reid Hoffman ($6,140,000), co-founder of LinkedIn and a major Democratic political donor. ²

According to Rob Pyers, the research director of California Target Book, Republican Accountability PAC paid Longwell Partners over $10 million between 2022 and January 2025. Longwell Partners is run by Sarah Longwell, the executive director of Defending Democracy Together. ^{10 9}

1. “Republican Accountability PAC.” Republican Accountability PAC. Accessed February 13, 2025. https://www.ra-pac.org/.
2. “Republican Accountability PAC.” Federal Election Commission. Accessed February 13, 2025. https://www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00804856/?tab=summary.
3. “Republican Voters Against Trump Launches Swing-State Billboard Takeover.” Republican Voters Against Trump. October 31, 2024. Accessed February 13, 2025. https://rvat.org/final-swing-state-billboard-takeover/.
4. “New Ad campaign feat. Former Trump Press Secretary Sarah Matthews & Other Republicans.” Republican Voters Against Trump. October 30, 2024. Accessed February 13, 2025. https://rvat.org/rvat-sarah-matthews/.
5. “About the Republican Accountability PAC.” Republican Accountability PAC. Accessed February 13, 2025. https://www.ra-pac.org/about
6. “About Republicans Voters Against Trump.” Republican Voters Against Trump. Accessed February 13, 2025. https://rvat.org/about-us/
7. “Republican Voters Against Trump.” Republican Voters Against Trump. Accessed February 13, 2025. https://rvat.org/.
8. Republican Immigration Group Defends Birthright Citizenship.” Press Release, Defending Democracy Together. October 30, 2018. Accessed January 13, 2025. https://www.defendingdemocracytogether.org/press-release/republican-immigration-group-defends-birthright-citizenship/
9. “Leadership and Staff.” Defending Democracy Together. Accessed February 13, 2025. https://www.defendingdemocracytogether.org/about-us/.
10. @rpyers. “X post on January 25, 2025.” X. Accessed February 13, 2025. https://x.com/rpyers/status/1883240325441069081.