Political leanings: Pro-environment/liberal

2024 total spending: $84.3 million by its super PAC

The League of Conservation Voters is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit that works to “defeat federal candidates who will undermine environmental progress and elect environmental champions who will prioritize just and equitable climate solutions,” according to its website.

The group was founded in 1969 by activist David Brower, executive director of the Sierra Club in the 1950s and ’60s and founder of Friends of the Earth. Its current president is Pete Maysmith, who served as LCV’s senior vice president of campaigns starting in 2017. Maysmith took over as president in 2025 after his predecessor, Gene Karpinski, held the position for more than 18 years. 

The League of Conservation Voters tracks the voting records of members of Congress on environmental issues in its National Environmental Scorecard. The league’s super PAC, the LCV Victory Fund, names a “Dirty Dozen,” a list of politicians whom the group aims to defeat because of their voting records on conservation issues and their political vulnerability. It has previously named a state-level “Dirty Dozen” in the past, but has not yet released one for 2026.

The League of Conservation Voters Action Fund, a traditional political action committee, and the LCV Education Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that does public outreach and education, are two of the league’s other affiliated organizations.

The super PAC primarily spends money on independent expenditures advocating for or against the election of candidates, while the traditional PAC contributes directly to candidate or party committees. Most of the super PAC’s independent expenditures support Democratic candidates and oppose Republicans.

As of Aug. 31, the super PAC had raised around $23.1 million for the 2026 election cycle, according to the Federal Election Commission. It also has spent nearly $5 million on independent expenditures.

The majority of that spending went to opposing Republican candidates, including Rep. Bill Huizenga of Michigan, Rep. Rob Wittman of Virginia, Rep. Chuck Edwards of North Carolina, and former Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan. Rogers is the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Michigan, facing off against Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in a toss-up race. Huizenga and Wittman also face closely contested general elections in November.

Edwards announced in August that he would end his reelection campaign, after the House Ethics Committee found evidence of inappropriate conduct toward staffers. Edwards was subsequently censured on Sept. 1.

The super PAC has also spent over $600,000 supporting Stefany Shaheen, the Democratic candidate for the House of Representatives in New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District.

As a super PAC, the LCV Victory Fund is required to disclose its donors to the FEC. Its largest donor through Aug. 31 was the League of Conservation Voters, the nonprofit, which has donated more than $18 million. 

As a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, the League of Conservation Voters does not need to disclose its donors and can make unlimited contributions to super PACs. Spending to influence elections in which the source of the money is undisclosed is known as ”dark money” spending, as the research group OpenSecrets explains.

Other major donors to the LCV Victory Fund this cycle include designer Giovanna Randall, film producer Eric Laufer and philanthropist Anne Earhart.

FactCheck.org Undergraduate Fellow James Constan contributed to this article. 

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