State Victory Action

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}