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Political leanings: Pro-environment/liberal
2022 total spending: $58.6 million by its super PAC alone
The League of Conservation Voters is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit that works to “elect pro-environment, pro-democracy candidates up and down the ballot,” according to its website.
The group was founded in 1969 by activist David Brower, executive director of the Sierra Club in the 1950s and ’60s and founder of Friends of the Earth. Its current president is Gene Karpinski, former executive director of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. Several well-known environmental organizations are represented on its board, such as Earthjustice and the Wilderness Society.
The League of Conservation Voters tracks the voting records of members of Congress on environmental issues in its National Environmental Scorecard. The league’s super PAC, the LCV Victory Fund, names a “Dirty Dozen,” a list of politicians whom the group aims to defeat because of their voting records on conservation issues and their political vulnerability. It also names a state-level “Dirty Dozen.”
The League of Conservation Voters Action Fund, a traditional political action committee, and the LCV Education Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that does public outreach and education, are two of the league’s other affiliated organizations.
The super PAC primarily spends money on independent expenditures advocating for or against the election of candidates, while the traditional PAC contributes directly to candidate or party committees. Most of the super PAC’s independent expenditures support Democratic candidates and oppose Republicans.
On March 19, LCV Victory Fund and its affiliated groups announced plans to spend a combined $120 million in 2024 — more than the $115 million they all spent during the 2020 elections and the $100 million on the 2022 midterms.
“LCV Victory Fund priorities for 2024 include winning the White House, defending the pro-climate majority in the Senate, taking back the House away from Big Oil’s MAGA allies and continuing to make climate progress in the states,” a press release said.
As of July 31, the super PAC had raised around $44.7 million this election cycle, according to its most recent filing with the Federal Election Commission. It also has spent over $5 million on independent expenditures, according to OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan research group that tracks campaign finances.
The vast majority of that spending went to supporting Democratic candidates, including Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, and Rep. Ruben Gallego, who is running for a U.S. Senate seat in Arizona.
As a super PAC, the LCV Victory Fund is required to disclose its donors to the FEC. Its largest donor so far is the League of Conservation Voters, the nonprofit, which has donated almost $27.7 million.
As a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, the League of Conservation Voters does not need to disclose its donors and can make unlimited contributions to super PACs. Spending to influence elections in which the source of the money is undisclosed is known as ”dark money” spending, as the research group OpenSecrets explains.
Other major donors to the LCV Victory Fund this cycle include former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, investor Reuben Munger, designer Giovanna Randall, author Thomas Barron and philanthropist Adam Lewis.
As of July 31, the league’s traditional PAC, LCV Action Fund, had raised about $765,000 and had contributed over $588,000 to federal candidates and other political committees for the 2024 cycle. In the 2022 election cycle, the LCV Action Fund raised around $898,000 and gave roughly $763,000 to other committees.
Staff Writer D’Angelo Gore contributed to this article.
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