Which super PACs did American Action Network fund in 2020?

Congressional Leadership Fund ($30M).

Which candidates did American Action Network's money end up backing or attacking in 2020?

against Anthony J. Brindisi (New York 22nd District, about $1.2M, won); against Sri Preston Kulkarni (Texas 22nd District, about $988K, won); against Max N. Rose (New York 11th District, about $940K, won). Amounts are the donor's share of each group's spending.

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Donor

American Action Network

Dark money

30 reported gifts; 1 recipient group listed, as reported to the FEC by the groups that received them.

Backed winners

American Action Network gave $30M to super PACs and other outside groups in the 2020 federal elections, and 100% of it helped Republicans (FEC filings with varying coverage dates; the most common larger-campaign cutoff is Dec 31, 2020). Among dollars with a matched election-stage result, 84% were on the winning side ($20M won, $3.7M lost). $2.0M had no matched result and is excluded.

Nonprofit tied to the Congressional Leadership Fund. It does not disclose its donors.

Gave to outside spenders

$30M

100% of it helped Republicans

Winning share of scored dollars

84%

$24M scored (79% of gifts)

Spent on the losing side

$3.7M

Not allocated or result unknown

$6.2M

$4.3M not allocated to tracked outside spending; $2.0M has no matched result. Neither is cash on hand.

Where the trail ends

What the IRS sees

The matched IRS record is American Action Network Inc, a 501(c)(4) social welfare group based in Washington, DC. The figures below are organization-level Form 990 amounts. Name matching alone does not establish that every FEC donation came from this entity; review the linked filing and EIN.

IRS filings on ProPublica →

Revenue, 2023

$46M

total reported revenue, including sources other than donations

Spent, 2023

$66M

Assets at year end, 2023

$16M

Tax year	Revenue	Spent	Assets	Filing
2023	$46M	$66M	$16M	990 PDF
2022	$90M	$62M	$31M	990 PDF
2021	$30M	$35M	$3.7M	e-file
2020	$48M	$42M	$8.9M	990 PDF
2019	$29M	$32M	$3.7M	990 PDF
2018	$52M	$51M	$6.5M	990 PDF
2024	filed, not yet digitized			990 PDF

The $30M it gave to super PACs in 2020 is 65% of what it took in during 2023, its latest year on file. The 990 lists what it spent on politics in a single line and leaves every donor blank.

American Action Network also bought $912K of Google and YouTube ads under its own name this cycle. All ad buyers →

Where the checks went

A nonprofit that does not have to say where its own money came from. The trail ends here. Each gift is split the way the group that received it split its spending between winners and losers, so a $10M check to a group that spent 80% on losers counts as $8M on the losing side.

✓ Backed the winner or attacked the loser ✗ Backed the loser or attacked the winner Result not matched

Group	Gave	How the group spent it	Won / lost
Congressional Leadership Fund $4.3M not allocated to tracked outside spending	$30M		$20M / $3.7M

The trail

What the money bought

The candidates American Action Network's money was spent for or against, pro-rated by American Action Network's share of each group's funding.

Candidate	Race	Spending	Their share	Paid off?
Anthony J. Brindisi	New York 22nd District	Attacking	$1.2M	✓ Yes
Sri Preston Kulkarni	Texas 22nd District	Attacking	$988K	✓ Yes
Max N. Rose	New York 11th District	Attacking	$940K	✓ Yes
Carolyn Bordeaux	Georgia 7th District	Attacking	$874K	Unknown
Christy Smith	California 25th District	Attacking	$862K	✓ Yes
Xochitl Torres Small	New Mexico 2nd District	Attacking	$821K	✓ Yes
Collin C. Peterson	Minnesota 7th District	Attacking	$799K	✓ Yes
Kendra S. Horn	Oklahoma 5th District	Attacking	$784K	✓ Yes
Candace Valenzuela	Texas 24th District	Attacking	$767K	✓ Yes
Jackie Gordon	New York 2nd District	Attacking	$712K	✓ Yes
Joe Cunningham	South Carolina 1st District	Attacking	$709K	✓ Yes
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell	Florida 26th District	Attacking	$684K	✓ Yes

Dark money as classified from the FEC entity type and public reporting.

Questions people ask

How much did American Action Network spend on the 2020 elections, and did it win?: American Action Network gave $30M to super PACs and other outside groups in the 2020 federal elections, and 100% of it helped Republicans (FEC filings with varying coverage dates; the most common larger-campaign cutoff is Dec 31, 2020). Among dollars with a matched election-stage result, 84% were on the winning side ($20M won, $3.7M lost). $2.0M had no matched result and is excluded.
Which super PACs did American Action Network fund in 2020?: Congressional Leadership Fund ($30M).
Which candidates did American Action Network's money end up backing or attacking in 2020?: against Anthony J. Brindisi (New York 22nd District, about $1.2M, won); against Sri Preston Kulkarni (Texas 22nd District, about $988K, won); against Max N. Rose (New York 11th District, about $940K, won). Amounts are the donor's share of each group's spending.