PAC profile: YG Action Fund

Introduction

Type of organization: Super PAC

Supports: Republican candidates

Founded: Oct. 27, 2011

Website: ygaction.com

Social Media: YouTube channel, Facebook page, Twitter profile

Principals:

• <p”>John Murray (president, founder and treasurer): President and founder of YG Action Network, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit and YG Policy Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit; previously served as d</p”>eputy chief of staff to Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va.
• Brad Dayspring (adviser): Served as aide in the second President George W. Bush administration; former deputy chief of staff to Cantor.

Profile:

YG Action Fund — the super PAC of the conservative “Young Guns” movement — spent more than $4.7 million on independent expenditures boosting Republicans in congressional races during the 2012 election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam, are the group’s primary financial backers. The Adelsons accounted for $5 million of the $5.9 million that the group raised.

The group also received $250,000 in donations from billionaire New York hedge fund manager Bruce Kovner and his wife, Suzanne.

The “Young Guns” is a group of Republican congressmen who got their nickname from a Weekly Standard magazine cover in 2010. They are led by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., GOP Whip Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., the chairman of the powerful House Budget Committee who was the Republican vice presidential nominee in 2012.

The movement’s super PAC is associated with a non-disclosing nonprofit group, YG Action Network, organized under Section 501(c)(4) of the U.S. tax code as a “social welfare” organization.

The super PAC is run by two former Cantor aides, John Murray and Brad Dayspring. Murray, Cantor’s former deputy chief of staff, founded and currently runs all three components of the “Young Guns” brand: YG Action Fund, the nonprofit YG Network and YG Policy Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that pens studies and provides educational programs.

It actively supported Republican candidates in both primary elections and the Novemeber general election.

Advertisements:

• “Two Mikes” said Democratic Rep. Mike McIntyre of North Carolina “talks like a conservative” but has voted like a liberal.
• “Something New” painted Democratic House candidate Bill Enyart of Illinois as out of touch and reminded voters he was appointed by disgraced Gov. Rod Blagojevich

Last Updated: Jan. 16, 2013