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Political Party/527

State Victory Action

Location:

Raleigh, NC
Tax ID:

82-4422986
Type:

527/Super PAC
Formation:

2018
Treasurer:

Michael Weisel

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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. 3 4 5

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. 6 7 8

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. 9 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. 10

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. 11 12

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. 13 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. 14 15 Billionaire real estate heiress and Democracy Alliance board member Amy Goldman Fowler has also donated $1 million to State Victory Action. 16

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. 17

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). 18

Political Contributions

According to OpenSecrets, State Victory Action ranked ninth in spending among all state-focused 527 organizations in the 2018 election cycle, 15th in the 2020 cycle and 12th in 2022. 19 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. 20

State Victory Action has been involved in races and ballot initiatives in Arizona, 21 Colorado, 22 Florida, 23 Maine, 24 Maryland, 25 Michigan, 26 Minnesota, 27 Nevada, 28 New Hampshire, 29 New Mexico, 30 North Carolina, 31 Pennsylvania, 32 Virginia, 33 and Wisconsin. 34 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. 35

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. 36 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. 37 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. 38 39

References

  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. 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/.
  4. 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.
  5. “State Victory Action – 527 Explorer.” ProPublica, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/527-explorer/orgs/824422986.
  6. 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/.
  7. “State Victory Action – 527 Explorer.” ProPublica, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/527-explorer/orgs/824422986.
  8. 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/.
  9. “State Victory Action – 527 Explorer.” ProPublica, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/527-explorer/orgs/824422986.
  10. “State Victory Action – 527 Explorer.” ProPublica, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/527-explorer/orgs/824422986.
  11. 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/.
  12. “State Victory Action – 527 Explorer.” ProPublica, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/527-explorer/orgs/824422986.
  13. 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/.
  14. “Strategic Victory Fund.” ProPublica, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/842526354.
  15. “State Victory Action – 527 Explorer.” ProPublica, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/527-explorer/orgs/824422986.
  16. “State Victory Action – 527 Explorer.” ProPublica, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/527-explorer/orgs/824422986.
  17. “State Victory Action – 527 Explorer.” ProPublica, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/527-explorer/orgs/824422986.
  18. “State Victory Action – 527 Explorer.” ProPublica, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/527-explorer/orgs/824422986.
  19. “State-Focused 527 Organizations Only.” OpenSecrets. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://www.opensecrets.org/527s/527cands.php?level=P&cycle=2018.
  20. “State-Focused 527 Organizations Only.” OpenSecrets. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://www.opensecrets.org/527s/527cands.php?level=P&cycle=2018.
  21. “State Victory Action $230,000 Expenditure to Arizona Win – 527 Explorer.” ProPublica, May 7, 2020. https://projects.propublica.org/527-explorer/expenditures/21838317.
  22. 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/.
  23. “State Victory Action $100,000 Expenditure to Equality Florida Pac – 527 Explorer.” ProPublica, October 18, 2018. https://projects.propublica.org/527-explorer/expenditures/11570198.
  24. 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.
  25. “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.
  26. 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.
  27.  Glahn, Bill. “Minnesota for Sale: Dark Money Edition [Updated].” American Experiment, April 25, 2023. https://www.americanexperiment.org/minnesota-for-sale-dark-money-edition/.
  28. 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.
  29. 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.
  30. 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/.
  31. “Political Committee Disclosure Report.” North Carolina State Board of Elections, 2020. https://cf.ncsbe.gov/CFOrgLkup/ReportDetail/?RID=181540&TP=REC.
  32. “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.
  33.  “State Victory Action.” The Virginia Public Access Project, 2024. https://www.vpap.org/donors/399458-state-victory-action/?start_year=all&end_year=all.
  34. 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.
  35. “State Victory Action – 527 Explorer.” ProPublica, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/527-explorer/orgs/824422986.
  36. “State Victory Action – 527 Explorer.” ProPublica, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/527-explorer/orgs/824422986.
  37. “State Victory Action – 527 Explorer.” ProPublica, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/527-explorer/orgs/824422986.
  38. “Michigan Elections, 2022.” Ballotpedia. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://ballotpedia.org/Michigan_elections,_2022.
  39. “Michigan 2022 Ballot Measures.” Ballotpedia. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://ballotpedia.org/Michigan_2022_ballot_measures.
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State Victory Action


Raleigh, NC