GOP Super PAC Plans Gay-Rights Push This Fall

Paul Singer

While most Republican candidates remain to shamelessly prostituting themselves to the Christofascist/Tea Party elements of the GOP base, some are seeing the long term handwriting on the fall and have begun to take pro-gay rights positions.  Such courage and moral integrity, naturally outrages the hate merchants among the "godly Christian" crowd and puts such gay friendly candidates at risk.  Enter the American Unity PAC and its policy arm, American Unity Fund, with a mission of supporting Republicans who will vote for gay friendly policies ranging from gay marriage to employment non-discrimination protections.  As USA Today reports, American Unity plans on helping finance the campaigns of gay friendly GOP candidates this fall.  Here are story highlights:

A Republican group tied to hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer plans to spend at least $2 million up to Election Day to boost congressional candidates who share its views in favor of gay rights.

American Unity's midterm push comes after a string of recent victories, including little-noticed state contests in Illinois, Nevada, Minnesota and Hawaii, where it helped Republican candidates — vulnerable over gay-marriage votes — survive primary challenges.

The group has drawn up plans to back seven congressional candidates ahead of November's elections and could add more to the roster, said Jeff Cook-McCormac, a senior adviser to American Unity PAC and its policy arm, American Unity Fund. They include incumbents such as Pennsylvania Rep. Charlie Dent, a moderate Republican who announced his support for gay marriage in May and Richard Tisei, an openly gay Republican making his second bid for a U.S. House seat in Massachusetts.

The super PAC already has spent $700,000 in a congressional primary this year to help Republican Rep. Richard Hanna beat back a Tea Party-backed challenger in upstate New York. Hanna, a two-term incumbent, backs a federal bill to ban workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation.

For many years, there's been a huge fear from Republican elected officials that if they showed courage on issues like this, would they be able to survive politically?" Cook-McCormac said.

"What American Unity PAC is committed to doing is ensuring that as these courageous elected officials follow their conscience and do the right thing, that there is a political network in place that's there to defend them."

In all, the group has raised nearly $9 million through its three branches — a super PAC, the tax-exempt arm focused on policy issues and a third group that organizes donors to support candidates.

Singer, the founder of Elliott Management and a leading force in Republican efforts to legalize gay marriage, is the largest donor to the American Unity super PAC at nearly $2 million, federal records show. Another billionaire, Boston investment manager Seth Klarman, has donated $ 1 million.

American Unity's strategy varies by contest. In Illinois and Minnesota this year, it helped launch state-focused super PACs to back like-minded Republicans in primaries. In other states, it has encouraged its network of donors to send campaign checks directly to at-risk candidates.