Democratic Group Backing House Races Gets $1 Million From Labor

A Democratic political group aimed at helping elect members of the House raised $1.1 million since July, almost solely from unions, according to government filings.

The House Majority PAC took in $1.08 million, including $250,000 from the International Association of Fire Fighters, $200,000 each from the Laborers Union and the American Federation of Teachers, and $125,000 from the Teamsters, Federal Election Commission reports show.

The group, one of four organizations, operating independently of individual campaigns and the Democratic National Committee, was set up to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to help win back a majority in the U.S. House, which Democrats lost in the November 2010 election.

So far this year, House Majority PAC has raised $2.1 million. The other three groups didn’t have to report to the FEC yesterday because they did not spend money during the New York and Nevada House special elections held on September 14.

American Crossroads, another independent political group that intends to spend millions of dollars on advertisements to support Republican candidates and oppose President Barack Obama’s re-election, raised $14,350 in the six weeks from September 25 through October 3. So far this year, American Crossroads has raised $6.7 million, according to the filing.

Rove-Backed Groups

That amount doesn’t include the donations to American Crossroads’ sister organization, Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies. Crossroads GPS, which is organized under a different provision in the tax code, doesn’t disclose its donors.

Republican strategist Karl Rove helped start the Crossroads groups last year after the Supreme Court ruled, in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, that corporations and labor unions can spend unlimited amounts of money advocating the election or defeat of political candidates.

The two groups raised $71 million in 2010 and spent much of the money on ads attacking Democratic candidates for the House and Senate, an effort credited with helping Republicans retake the House and narrow the partisan margin in the Senate. The two groups have said they intend to raise $240 million in this 2012 election cycle.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alison Fitzgerald in Washington at afitzgerald2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva34@bloomberg.net