No matter how much President Donald Trump taunts Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader’s position is secure, thanks largely to a powerful super PAC that has plowed millions into Senate campaigns, ensuring the loyalty of his Republican caucus.
The Senate Leadership Fund, one of two outside groups run by McConnell loyalists, spent nearly $86 million in the November 2016 election to benefit Republicans. That made it the third largest outside spender, trailing only the super PACS that backed Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican presidential primary contender Jeb Bush.
McConnell has remained silent about Trump’s pillorying, but Steven Law, the super PAC’s president and a former chief of staff to McConnell made it clear the Kentucky lawmaker commands his own power orbit. The Senate Leadership Fund, Law noted, is off to its strongest fund raising start in an off election year — amid worries about Trump.
“With all the chaos and dysfunction that we’ve seen from the White House, there’s just a very strong recognition of the importance of a disciplined, functioning Senate majority with Sen. McConnell at the helm,” Law said.
The group along with an issue advocacy group, One Nation, emerged in 2015 with McConnell’s encouragement to quell worries that Republicans did not have support from an outside group that would focus on protecting and expanding its Senate majority.
They countered Democratic efforts, launched in the wake of a landmark 2010 Supreme Court ruling that allowed the spending of unlimited amounts of money. Groups allied with then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, raised nearly $67 million in the 2014 election, when Democrats lost control of the Senate.
“As leader, Sen. McConnell has to guide his caucus and frequently he has to lead his members into difficult legislative terrain,” Law said. “It’s important for these members to know someone will have his back when it counts.”