MoveOn Political Action, which jointly operates MoveOn.org with its associated 501(c)(4) organization MoveOn Civic Action, describes itself as “the largest independent, progressive, digitally-connected organizing group in the United States.”¹ MoveOn Political Action gathers donations from its members, from entertainment events, and from outside donors like George Soros,³ MoveOn supports almost exclusively the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, most notably U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont).

Originally founded as one entity, MoveOn eventually split into two associated organizations for tax reasons: MoveOn Civic Action, the group’s 501(c)(4), and MoveOn Political Action, the group’s candidate-supporting Political Action Committee (PAC).

Political Activities

MoveOn.org Political Action is a “federal PAC focused on running powerful progressive advocacy campaigns and demonstrating MoveOn members’ power at the ballot box by electing candidates who reflect MoveOn members’ values.”³ MoveOn almost exclusively supports the more radical fringe of the Democratic Party.¹⁰

• The “Bush in 30 Seconds” ad contest gathered 1,000 anti-Bush ad submissions from MoveOn members in 2004, with the winning ad eventually airing on CNN.
• The “Vote for Change” concert series in 2004, featuring artists from Bruce Springsteen to Pearl Jam, helped register and turn out left-wing voters.
• The 2006 “Caught Red Handed” campaign targeted Republican House members for allegedly kowtowing to special interests at the expense of their constituents.
• The “Bush-McCain Challenge” quiz designed to tie 2008 Republican Presidential contender John McCain to outgoing President George W. Bush.
• MoveOn staged a 2008 phone-banking effort to mobilize voters to elect Barack Obama in 2008.
• In 2012, MoveOn ran the controversial “Vote Score” project, an effort to boost turnout for left-wing candidates up and down ballot using sexually suggestive advertisements about voters “scoring” for their first time with Democratic Presidential candidates.¹³

  People

  MoveOn has no central headquarters, and many employees work electronically from locations around the United States.¹⁴

  Ilya Sheyman is the executive director of MoveOn Political Action. Sheyman ran in the Democratic primary for Illinois’ 10^th district in 2012, losing the race to Brad Schneider even after being endorsed by MoveOn, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, and former Vermont governor Howard Dean (D).¹⁶

  References

  1. “What is MoveOn.org?” MoveOn. Accessed May 12, 2017. https://front.moveon.org/about/#.WRW5uIkrK9Z.
  2. “MoveOn (MO).” Discover the Networks. Accessed May 12, 2017 http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/printgroupProfile.asp?grpid=6201.
  3. “What is MoveOn.org?” MoveOn. Accessed May 12, 2017. https://front.moveon.org/about/#.WRXt44krK9Y.
  4. “MoveOn; Recipients.” Open Secrets. Accessed May 12, 2017. https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacgot.php?cycle=2016&cmte=C00341396.
  5. “MoveOn: PAC to PAC/Party.” Open Secrets. Accessed May 12, 2017. https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pac2pac.php?cycle=2016&cmte=C00341396.
  6. “MoveOn: Independent Expenditures.” MoveOn. Accessed May 12, 2017. https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/indexpend.php?cycle=2016&cmte=C00341396.
  7. “MoveOn: Recipients.” MoveOn. Accessed May 12, 2017. https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacgot.php?cmte=C00341396&cycle=2012.
  8. “Store.” MoveOn” Accessed May 12, 2017. https://store.moveon.org/.
  9. “All Items.” MoveOn. Accessed May 12, 2017. https://store.moveon.org/collections/all-items.
  10. “Highlights of MoveOn’s Electoral Work.” MoveOn. Accessed May 12, 2017. https://front.moveon.org/moveons-electoral-work/#.WRYCYYkrK9Z.
  11. “MoveOn.org’s VOTE SCORE Project.” Youtube. October 31, 2012. Accessed May 12, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdvZfzYobnE.
  12. “MoveOn: Donors.” Open Secrets. Accessed May 12, 2017. https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacgave2.php?cycle=2016&cmte=C00341396.
  13. “Moveon.org PAC Donors.” OpenSecrets, Accessed October 9, 2023. https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/C00341396/donors/2022
  14. “MoveOn Careers.” MoveOn. Accessed May 12, 2017. https://front.moveon.org/careers/#.WRX2bYkrK9Y.
  15. “Ilya Sheyman.” Ballotpedia. Accessed May 12, 2017. https://ballotpedia.org/Ilya_Sheyman.
  16. “Ilya Sheyman: Executive Director, MoveOn.org.” MoveOn. Accessed May 12, 2017. https://front.moveon.org/ilya-sheyman-executive-director-moveon-org/#.WRYZBYkrK9Z.