The Squad Victory Fund is a political action committee that was created to support the re-election campaigns of U.S. Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), a group of socialist and other left-wing members of Congress known as “The Squad.” ¹ The Squad Victory Fund was created to supposedly combat the spending done in opposition to left-wing candidates despite Ocasio-Cortez and Omar being ranked among some of the top fundraisers in Congress. ²

The members of The Squad have been praised by far-left progressives and criticized by moderate Democrats and Republicans for their radical policies. ³⁴

Background

The Squad Victory Fund is a political action committee created on July 1, 2020, to support the re-election campaigns of U.S. Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI). ⁵⁶ The group of four representatives have named themselves “The Squad,” which the PAC is named after, and align with radical-left socialist economic and critical race theory-inspired “equity” policy. ⁷

The Squad Victory Fund supports The Squad and campaigns that advocate for the Green New Deal, a government-run health care system, and other policies that would implement “equity” standards based on race and gender. It also supports abolishing the police and environmentalist policies, also aimed at establishing equity standards. ⁸

The Squad has faced criticisms from both Republican and Democratic leaders for supporting far-left policy. ⁹

Formation

The Squad Victory Fund claims that it needed to be created because of the amount of money being spent by both the political right and moderate Democrats to oppose progressive candidates such as members of The Squad. ¹⁰

In a press release announcing the formation of The Squad Victory Fund, Ocasio-Cortez claimed over $3 million had been spent by Wall Street and donors to former President Donald Trump, and more was to be spent, to oppose the campaigns of The Squad and other progressive candidates. ¹¹

As of the date The Squad Victory Fund was created, Ocasio-Cortez and Omar were among the 30 largest fundraisers in Congress. Ocasio-Cortes was ranked the fifth highest fundraiser, having raised $2 million more than former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). ¹²

Financials

The Squad Victory Fund has stated that the principal campaign committees of the four Representatives, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for Congress, Ilhan for Congress, The Committee to Elect Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib for Congress, and other PACs associated with the Congresswomen, Courage to Change, Inspiring Leadership Has a Name PAC, Power of Us PAC, and Rooted in Community Leadership PAC, will each receive 12.5% of its contributions. It also states that it will not accept contributions from corporations, registered federal lobbyists, executives or representatives of conventional energy companies, or from the Fraternal Order of Police labor union. ¹³

2020 Election Cycle

During the 2020 Election Cycle, The Squad Victory Fund received $1,513,380.71 in contributions. ¹⁴ Alphabet Inc, New York University, Amazon.com, and the University of California were classified as the top entities with which donors were associated. ¹⁵

For the 2020 cycle, The Squad Victory Fund reported giving $103,978 each to Ilhan for Congress, Committee to Elect Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib for Congress, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for Congress, Rooted in Community Leadership Pac, Inspiring Leadership Has a Name Pac, Courage to Change, and Power of Us Pac. It also reported giving $57,884 to ActBlue. ¹⁶

1. Foran, Clare, and Gregory Krieg. “AOC, Omar, Tlaib and Pressley Launch Joint Fundraising Committee ‘Squad Victory Fund’.” CNN. Cable News Network, July 1, 2020. https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/01/politics/squad-ocasio-cortez-tlaib-omar-pressley/index.html.
2. Goba, Kadia. “‘The Squad’ Is Raising Money To Fight For Progressive Candidates.” BuzzFeed News. BuzzFeed News, July 1, 2020. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kadiagoba/squad-fundraising-progressive-candidates-aoc-omar-tlaib.
3. Talton, Benjamin. “Perspective | The Radical Roots of ‘the Squad’.” The Washington Post. WP Company, August 28, 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/08/28/radical-roots-squad/.
4. “Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib Announce Endorsement and Joint Launch of the ‘Squad Victory Fund’.” Ilhan Omar for Congress. The Squad Victory Fund, July 1, 2020. https://ilhanomar.com/congresswomen-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-ilhan-omar-ayanna-pressley-and-rashida-tlaib-announce-endorsement-and-joint-launch-of-the-squad-victory-fund/.
5. “THE SQUAD VICTORY FUND – Committee Overview.” FEC.gov. Accessed July 7, 2021. https://www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00750166/.
6. Foran, Clare, and Gregory Krieg. “AOC, Omar, Tlaib and Pressley Launch Joint Fundraising Committee ‘Squad Victory Fund’.” CNN. Cable News Network, July 1, 2020. https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/01/politics/squad-ocasio-cortez-tlaib-omar-pressley/index.html.
7. Helmore, Edward. “The Squad: Progressive Democrats Reveal How They Got Their Name.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, July 17, 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/17/the-squad-name-origins-aoc-ilhan-omar-ayanna-pressley-rashida-tlaib.
8. “Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib Announce Endorsement and Joint Launch of the ‘Squad Victory Fund’.” Ilhan Omar for Congress. The Squad Victory Fund, July 1, 2020. https://ilhanomar.com/congresswomen-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-ilhan-omar-ayanna-pressley-and-rashida-tlaib-announce-endorsement-and-joint-launch-of-the-squad-victory-fund/.
9. Sullivan, Kate. “Here Are the 4 Congresswomen Known as ‘The Squad’ Targeted by Trump’s Racist Tweets | CNN Politics.” CNN. Cable News Network, July 16, 2019. https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/15/politics/who-are-the-squad/index.html.
10. Goba, Kadia. “‘The Squad’ Is Raising Money To Fight For Progressive Candidates.” BuzzFeed News. BuzzFeed News, July 1, 2020. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kadiagoba/squad-fundraising-progressive-candidates-aoc-omar-tlaib.
11. “Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib Announce Endorsement and Joint Launch of the ‘Squad Victory Fund’.” Ilhan Omar for Congress. The Squad Victory Fund, July 1, 2020. https://ilhanomar.com/congresswomen-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-ilhan-omar-ayanna-pressley-and-rashida-tlaib-announce-endorsement-and-joint-launch-of-the-squad-victory-fund/.
12. Goba, Kadia. “‘The Squad’ Is Raising Money To Fight For Progressive Candidates.” BuzzFeed News. BuzzFeed News, July 1, 2020. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kadiagoba/squad-fundraising-progressive-candidates-aoc-omar-tlaib.
13. Squad Victory Fund. Accessed July 8, 2021. https://squadvictoryfund.com/.
14. “THE SQUAD VICTORY FUND – Committee Overview.” FEC.gov. Accessed July 8, 2021. https://www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00750166/?tab=raising.
15. “The Squad Victory Fund: Joint Fundraising Committee Top Donors.” OpenSecrets.org. Accessed July 8, 2021. https://www.opensecrets.org/jfc/donors.php?id=C00750166&cycle=2020.
16. “The Squad Victory Fund: Joint Fundraising Committee Expenditures.” OpenSecrets.org. Accessed July 8, 2021. https://www.opensecrets.org/jfc/expenditures.php?id=C00750166&cycle=2020.