Priorities USA Action, which supports Mr. Obama, is the third-largest super PAC, although it lags far behind Restore Our Future. According to the latest FEC filings, Priorities USA has spent $36 million and raised $35.6 million in the 2012 campaign cycle, as of Oct. 4.
Priorities USA Action was founded in April 2011 by two former Obama staffers – Bill Burton, who was Obama's campaign press secretary in 2008, and Sean Sweeney, an aide to then-White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel – to counter the clout of conservative super PACs.
Big liberal donors have been relatively cool to funding super PAC ads, compared with their conservative counterparts. The New York Times reported on a meeting of top liberal donors on Sept. 27 that produced new pledges to fund Democratic super PACs, including a commitment by billionaire investor George Soros to contribute $1 million to Priorities USA Action.
Priorities USA Action has received a large number of donations from people in the communication and electronics industries. Its largest donor is Jeffrey Katzenberg, head of DreamWorks Animation Studios. Mr. Katzenberg gave $2 million to Priorities USA Action. In the 2008 campaign cycle, Katzenberg was the second-highest individual donor overall, with all of his contributions going to Democrats.
Priorities USA Action has also received funding from businessman and philanthropist Irwin Mark Jacobs, as well as the actor Morgan Freeman, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association PAC.
So far, Priorities USA Action has spent no money in support of their candidate. Every cent of their $36 million in total expenditures has gone to funding ads against Romney. They have spent a total of $11.5 million on television ads, primarily in Colorado, Ohio, and Florida. Ninety-six percent of their advertisements have been negative.
