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Election 2012: top seven super PACs
Campaign 2012 marks the debut in American politics of super PACs, or "super political-action committees," empowered to raise unlimited sums of money from corporations, unions, and individuals and spend it for or against candidates – and they are already having a dramatic impact.
In this election cycle so far, 900 reported super PACs have spent more than $318 million to influence presidential and congressional races, funding a blitz of advertising in the primary states, swing states, and nationwide. Notably, more than 70 percent of all super PAC ads have been negative.
News organizations, public interest groups, and bloggers have covered super PACs extensively, especially in a bid to identify donors and their interests. Groups such as The Sunlight Foundation, The Center for Public Integrity, and the Center for Responsive Politics are tracking super PAC spending down to the dollar. The top 1 percent of donors (105 people) have contributed 58 percent of all super PAC funding, mainly directed to help conservatives.
Decoder has compiled a report on the seven top super PACs – the organizations that have spent the most and still have the most money in the bank – the candidates they support, and the donors behind them. Here is the bigger picture on the new groups funding this election.
Las Vegas Sands Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson speaks at a news conference on his new project 'EuroVegas,' on April 12. Adelson, one of the wealthiest men in the world, has donated $10 million to the pro-Mitt Romney Super PAC, Restore our Future. (Kin Cheung/AP/File)
1. Restore our Future
Restore our Future, which supports Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, is the largest, most well-funded super PAC of the 2012 election cycle. It has spent spent $86.6 million and raised $96.7 million, according to Federal Election Commission filings as of Oct. 4, leaving it with at least $10 million available for the last weeks of the campaign.
The Center for Public Integrity reports that the PAC was founded by Carl Forti, the political director for Mr. Romney’s 2008 presidential campaign, and Charles Spies, Romney’s chief financial officer and counsel in 2008.
Restore our Future has spent $14,015,165 in support of Romney so far. The organization has spent $28,484,247 against President Obama, and a combined $39,991,995 against Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum in the GOP primaries.
The vast majority of contributions to Restore our Future come from the financial, insurance, and real estate sectors. But the biggest individual donors are casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson, Texas homebuilder Bob Perry, Bain Capital, and energy billionaire William Koch. Mr. Adelson, who ranks No. 12 on the Forbes 400 list of the richest people in America, has donated $10 million to Restore our Future through two of his companies, the Adelson Drug Clinic and the Las Vegas Sands. He has donated at least $41.2 million to pro-Republican super PACs in the 2012 campaign cycle.
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