Billionaire mega-donor George Soros is seeding a super PAC with $125 million, an enormous investment that will aid Democratic groups and candidates for the 2022 election cycle and beyond.
The group, Democracy PAC, has served as Soros’ campaign spending vehicle since 2019, channeling more than $80 million to other Democratic groups and candidates during the 2020 election cycle. The new, nine-figure investment from Soros is aimed at supporting pro-democracy “causes and candidates, regardless of political party” who are invested in “strengthening the infrastructure of American democracy: voting rights and civic participation, civil rights and liberties, and the rule of law,” Soros said in a statement shared first with POLITICO.
Soros added that the donation to the super PAC is a “long-term investment,” intended to support political work beyond this year.
Alexander Soros, George Soros’ son, will serve as the PAC’s president. In his own statement, Alexander Soros cited the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, and “ongoing efforts to discredit and undermine our electoral process, reveal the magnitude of the threat to our democracy,” adding that this “is a generational threat that cannot be addressed in just one or two election cycles.”
The donation is sure to place Soros among the biggest political givers of the midterms. Only a handful of major donors have contributed nine figures to federal groups and candidates in recent years, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks political giving.
Ahead of the 2022 midterms, Democracy PAC has already cut big checks to two major Democratic super PACs aligned with the party’s congressional leadership: $2.5 million to Senate Majority PAC and $1 million to House Majority PAC.
Another $1 million went to the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State, the group dedicated to electing Democrats to statewide administration offices. These wonky, once little-known posts play a key role in administering elections, which have come under siege since former President Donald Trump and his followers tried to subvert the results of the 2020 election.
Trump has since endorsed candidates for secretary of state in several battleground states he lost in 2020, and DASS has stepped up its fundraising in response. Soros’ contribution helped fuel a record year for the Democratic group, which raised $4.5 million in 2021 to prepare for this year’s elections.
Several groups focused on field operations also got six- and seven-figure donations. BlackPAC, a group focused on turning out Black voters, received $250,000 to support its efforts during the Virginia gubernatorial and legislative races in 2021, while Vote Rev (formerly called VoteTripling.org) received $1 million. That group is focused on canvassing voters at polling places to then reach out to their family and friends, urging them to vote.
Democracy PAC’s spending will be posted publicly on Monday, after filing with the Federal Elections Commission.
