State Victory Action is a left-of-center super PAC that supports Democratic Party candidates and policy initiatives at the state level and regularly ranks among the highest-spending state-focused super PACs in the nation. ^{1 2} It was created and seeded by Democratic mega-donors George Soros, Tom Steyer, and Donald Sussman, and has strong connections to the left-of-center donor collective Democracy Alliance and labor unions including AFSCME, the National Education Association, and the SEIU. ^{1 3 4}

Background and Funding

State Victory Action is a super PAC that supports Democratic candidates for state-level offices across the country, as well as state-level ballot initiatives that advance left-of-center priorities on issues such as abortion and election security. ^{1 4 5}

It was founded in 2018 with $15 million in donations from major Democratic Party donors, including $4.25 million from left-of-center financier George Soros, $2.5 million from hedge fund executive Donald Sussman, and $3.5 million from hedge fund executive and climate activist Tom Steyer’s NextGen Climate Action Committee. ⁴ It also received $2.65 million in funding that year from State Engagement Fund, $1 million from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and $250,000 from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), along with smaller donations from other individuals and organizations. ⁴

State Victory Action has received $4.35 from Soros directly as well as another $3.1 million from his Democracy PAC, while Steyer’s NextGen Climate Action Committee has donated $3.6 million and Sussman has given $2.6 million. ^{5 4}

Connected Organizations

State Victory Action has close ties to Strategic Victory Fund, which was created by left-of-center donor collective Democracy Alliance and its associated 501(c)(4) advocacy organization State Engagement Fund. ¹ State Victory Action shares a P.O. box address in Raleigh, North Carolina with both the Strategic Victory Fund and State Engagement Fund, and its treasurer Michael Weisel is also the treasurer of the Strategic Victory Fund. ^{6 4} Billionaire real estate heiress and Democracy Alliance board member Amy Goldman Fowler has also donated $1 million to State Victory Action. ⁴

In total, State Victory Action has received a reported $7.75 million from the State Engagement Fund, $6.1 million from Strategic Victory Fund, and $4.5 million from the Strategic Victory Fund IE PAC since its founding. ⁴

Labor Unions

State Victory Action has received significant funding from labor unions, including $2.25 million from AFSCME, $2.8 million from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Committee on Political Education (SEIU COPE) PAC, $1.75 million from the National Education Association and its NEA Advocacy Fund PAC, and $875,000 from the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). ⁴

Political Contributions

According to OpenSecrets, State Victory Action ranked ninth in spending among all state-focused 527 organizations in the 2018 election cycle, 15^th in the 2020 cycle and 12^th in 2022. ² It regularly ranks among the largest 527 committees not formally associated with the parties such as associations of governors, state attorneys general, or state campaign committees. ²

State Victory Action has been involved in races and ballot initiatives in Arizona, ⁷ Colorado, ⁸ Florida, ⁹ Maine, ¹⁰ Maryland, ¹¹ Michigan, ¹² Minnesota, ¹³ Nevada, ¹⁴ New Hampshire, ¹⁵ New Mexico, ¹⁶ North Carolina, ¹⁷ Pennsylvania, ¹⁸ Virginia, ¹⁹ and Wisconsin. ²⁰ In addition to state-specific donations, in 2018, State Victory Action made its largest reported single contribution to date when it gave $2 million to EMILY’s List to support Democratic state-level candidates across the country. ⁴

The biggest single recipient of contributions from State Victory Action to date is the Progress Michigan Political Action Fund, which is the PAC for the left-of-center advocacy organization Progress Michigan. ⁴ State Victory Action has contributed a reported $4.51 million to Progress Michigan PAC since 2018, with $3.1 million of those contributions coming in the summer of 2022. ⁴ In Michigan’s November elections that year, Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D) was re-elected and the Democratic Party narrowly took control of the state legislature, while voters approved Democratic-sponsored ballot measures creating a right to abortion and contraception in the state constitution and loosening voting regulations. ^{21 22}

1. Shepherd, Todd. “Fund Led by Steyer and Soros Rolling out State-Focused Donations, Strategy.” Washington Free Beacon, October 11, 2018. https://freebeacon.com/politics/fund-led-steyer-soros-rolling-state-focused-donations-strategy/.
2. “State-Focused 527 Organizations Only.” OpenSecrets. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://www.opensecrets.org/527s/527cands.php?level=P&cycle=2018.
3. Orso, Anna. “National Groups Are Pouring Millions into Pa. to Try to Sway State Legislative Races in the Home Stretch.” https://www.inquirer.com, October 18, 2022. https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/pa-state-legislative-races-national-money-groups-20221018.html#loaded.
4. “State Victory Action – 527 Explorer.” ProPublica, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/527-explorer/orgs/824422986.
5. Tindera, Michela. “George Soros Pumped $125 Million into His Super-PAC. Here’s Who’s Getting the Money.” Forbes, February 10, 2022. https://www.forbes.com/sites/michelatindera/2022/01/31/george-soros-pumped-125-million-into-his-super-pac-heres-whos-getting-the-money/.
6. “Strategic Victory Fund.” ProPublica, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/842526354.
7. “State Victory Action $230,000 Expenditure to Arizona Win – 527 Explorer.” ProPublica, May 7, 2020. https://projects.propublica.org/527-explorer/expenditures/21838317.
8. Fish, Sandra. “George Soros, Tom Steyer Enter Colorado Governor’s Race to Help Democrat Jared Polis.” The Colorado Sun, September 18, 2018. https://coloradosun.com/2018/09/18/george-soros-tom-steyer-governor-race-jared-polis/.
9. “State Victory Action $100,000 Expenditure to Equality Florida Pac – 527 Explorer.” ProPublica, October 18, 2018. https://projects.propublica.org/527-explorer/expenditures/11570198.
10. Mistler, Steve. “IRS Filings Show Progressive Heavy-Hitters Bankrolling Maine PAC Seeking to Influence 2018 Races.” Maine Public, August 26, 2018. https://www.mainepublic.org/politics/2018-08-25/irs-filings-show-progressive-heavy-hitters-bankrolling-maine-pac-seeking-to-influence-2018-races.
11. “State Victory Action $250,000 Expenditure to Maryland Together We Rise Pac – 527 Explorer.” ProPublica, October 23, 2018. https://projects.propublica.org/527-explorer/expenditures/11570204.
12. Vandewalker, Ian, and Maya Kornberg. “Financing of Races for Offices That Oversee Elections: August 2022.” Brennan Center for Justice, November 1, 2022. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/financing-races-offices-oversee-elections-august-2022.
13.  Glahn, Bill. “Minnesota for Sale: Dark Money Edition [Updated].” American Experiment, April 25, 2023. https://www.americanexperiment.org/minnesota-for-sale-dark-money-edition/.
14. Snyder, Riley. “Follow the Money: Outside Groups Spent around $27 Million in Governor’s Race over Last Four Months.” The Nevada Independent, October 28, 2018. https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/follow-the-money-outside-groups-spent-around-27-million-in-governors-race-over-last-four-months.
15. McDermott, Casey. “Independent Spending in N.H. Midterm Races Boosted Sununu, down-Ballot Democrats.” New Hampshire Public Radio, November 14, 2018. https://www.nhpr.org/politics/2018-11-13/independent-spending-in-n-h-midterm-races-boosted-sununu-down-ballot-democrats.
16. Metzger, Bryan. “Modest Sunshine Still Leaves Campaign Cash in Shadow.” New Mexico In Depth, November 18, 2020. https://nmindepth.com/2020/modest-sunshine-still-leaves-campaign-cash-in-shadow/.
17. “Political Committee Disclosure Report.” North Carolina State Board of Elections, 2020. https://cf.ncsbe.gov/CFOrgLkup/ReportDetail/?RID=181540&TP=REC.
18. “RSLC Statement: Pennsylvania Republicans Overcome Onslaught in National Liberal Spending to Hold State Senate.” Republican Senate Leadership Committee, November 10, 2022. https://www.rslc.gop/press-releases/rslc-statement-pennsylvania-republicans-overcome-onslaught-in-national-liberal-spending-to-hold-state-senate.
19.  “State Victory Action.” The Virginia Public Access Project, 2024. https://www.vpap.org/donors/399458-state-victory-action/?start_year=all&end_year=all.
20. Fisher, Daniel. “Soros-Backed Fund Spends Millions to Turn Wisconsin Supreme Court Liberal.” Legal Newsline, March 20, 2023. https://legalnewsline.com/stories/640255552-soros-backed-fund-spends-millions-to-turn-wisconsin-supreme-court-liberal.
21. “Michigan Elections, 2022.” Ballotpedia. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://ballotpedia.org/Michigan_elections,_2022.
22. “Michigan 2022 Ballot Measures.” Ballotpedia. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://ballotpedia.org/Michigan_2022_ballot_measures.