Political leanings: Republican/conservative
Spending target: Unknown
The Republican Majority Campaign says it is “dedicated to advocating on behalf of Republican principles such as lower taxes, limited government, and a strong national defense.” And it says its goal, as the name suggests, is to “elect an enduring Republican majority.” It is a California-based federal political action committee that reports its spending and donors to the Federal Election Commission.
One of the group’s founders, and its executive director, is California attorney Gary Kreep, who is also the former executive director of the United States Justice Foundation, an organization that was founded 35 years ago to “advance the conservative viewpoint in the judicial arena,” according to its website. Kreep is also known for being one of the most vocal members of the “birther” movement, which questions President Barack Obama’s eligibility to hold the office based on the mistaken belief (which FactCheck.org and others have debunked) that he was not born in the United States. In 2009, Kreep was featured in the “Birthermercial” — a television infomercial hosted by televangelist Bill Keller — which asked: “Where was President Obama born?”
So far, the Republican Majority Campaign has not spent any money in independent expenditures for the 2014 elections. During the 2012 election cycle, the PAC spent $5.72 million total and $2.36 million in independent expenditures, almost all of which went to campaigning against President Obama.
But the PAC gives most of its money — nearly $2.7 million in 2010 and more than $2.7 million in 2012 — to a firm called Political Advertising, a phone and mailing communication group in Arizona. Almost all of the PAC’s $2.36 million in independent expenditures in 2012 went to Political Advertising for phone or mail communications, according to the Sunlight Foundation.
So far, the PAC has given $1.36 million to the firm for the 2014 election cycle for fundraising mailings and calls.
In 2012, it gave only $5,950 to federal candidates, including $2,000 to then-Rep. Dean Heller, who was running for Senate in Nevada, and $1,000 each to Rep. Allen West of Florida and Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock, who was running for Senate in Indiana.
The PAC receives its funds from relatively small, individual donations. In 2012, its largest contribution was $7,500 from Mr. and Mrs. Larry Smead. Smead is the chairman and director of Sasco Electric Inc., and he gave more than $100,000 to conservative groups and candidates during the 2012 election cycle. The PAC also received $15,000 from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.
The group spent almost $3.9 million during the 2010 election cycle, but only $447,338 of that amount was spent on activities such as independent expenditures or campaign ads that expressly advocate the election or defeat of a particular candidate. It spent about $340,000 of that money campaigning against Democratic candidates. It gave $20,600 to federal Republican candidates, including $5,000 each to Scott Brown, who won the open Senate seat in Massachusetts; Rep. Bill Posey of Florida; and Doug Hoffman, who ultimately withdrew from a special election in New York’s 23rd Congressional District.
The Republican Majority Campaign also gives a significant amount of its funds to its leaders. Kreep received more than $100,000 from the PAC in 2012 and 2010. The PAC’s treasurer, Randy Goodwin, received more than $117,000 from the PAC in 2010 and nearly $93,000 in 2012.
One of the political candidates that the group did target in 2010 was Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. It spent more than $27,000 — the most it spent against one candidate — trying to defeat the Nevada senator with controversial ads linking him to United Arab Emirates Prime Minister Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.