 | |
| Founded | 2016 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Shaughnessy Naughton |
| Type | Political action committee |
| Website |
www |
314 Action is a nonprofit progressive political action committee (PAC) that seeks to elect STEM educated Democrats to higher office in the United States. [1]
History
Foundation
314 Action has stated they inspired by EMILY's List, a progressive, pro-choice PAC that heavily contributed to Hillary Clinton's failed 2016 bid for president raising at least $60,000,000 for her campaign. [1] 314 Action's founder, Shaughnessy Naughton, stated she founded the group due to her worry about the election of Donald Trump and Trump's refusal to name any climate change experts to his cabinet, claiming that Trump is "anti-science." [1] The express goal of 314 Action is to increase the number of STEM educated Democrats elected to public office. [2] [1] 314 Action has explicitly stated that they will only support Democrats, and will refuse to work with or contribute to any Republican, due to the Democrats supporting green politics stating “We felt we had to pick a team” and that science is not above politics because "politics is not above bringing itself into science." [1]
2020 election
314 Action has stated their goal in 2020 was to "shame" Republicans who did not take the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States seriously, either for refusing mask mandates or social distancing. [3] Namely, the PAC targeted donors to Ron DeSantis, Mike DeWine, and Greg Abbott to "shame" them for supporting candidates that did not take COVID-19 lockdowns and mandatory vaccinations seriosuly. [3]
2024 election
314 Action has spent $1.2 million on ads backing Maxine Dexter in her bid to succeed Earl Blumenauer, who is retiring from his seat representing Oregon's 3rd congressional district. [4] The Intercept has reported that these funds were provided by the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC, which opposes one of Dexter's opponents, Susheela Jayapal. [5]
Founding
The organization was founded in 2016 by researcher Shaughnessy Naughton. [6] [7] Naughton is a business owner and a chemist who unsuccessfully ran for Congress as a Democrat in Pennsylvania's 8th congressional district in 2014 and 2016. [8]
Name
The group gets its name from pi (π), a mathematical constant approximately equal to 3.14. [1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Kaplan, Sarah. "This group wants to fight 'anti-science' rhetoric by getting scientists to run for office". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
- ^ Livni, Ephrat (December 15, 2017). " Scientists in the US are running for office to combat the science-denial descending on DC". QZ.com. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
- ^ a b Gomez, Henry J. "Progressive group seeks to shame GOP governors and their donors over lax pandemic leadership". NBC. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
- ^ VanderHart, Dirk (April 25, 2024). "Rush of outside spending turns heads in contest to replace US Rep. Earl Blumenauer". Retrieved May 5, 2024.
- ^ Grim, Ryan (May 3, 2024). "AIPAC Is Secretly Intervening in Portland's Congressional Race to Take Down Susheela Jayapal, Sources Say". The Intercept. Retrieved May 5, 2024.
- ^ Yong, Ed (January 25, 2017). " Thanks to Trump, Scientists Are Planning to Run for Office". The Atlantic. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
- ^ " 'It’s important to have scientific voices heard at all levels of government'". Los Angeles Times. December 15, 2017.
- ^ Martin, Michel (February 26, 2017). "Fearing Climate Change Policy Under Trump, STEM Group Works To Get Scientists Elected". All Things Considered. National Public Radio.
Notes
Sources
- " As a Response to Trump, This Group Is Drafting Scientists to Run for Office". Motherboard. January 10, 2017. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
- Mukherjee, Sy (January 25, 2017). " Scientists Gear Up to Run for Office In a World of 'Alternate Facts'". Fortune. January 25, 2017. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
- Amy Harmon and Henry Fountain " In Age of Trump, Scientists Show Signs of a Political Pulse". New York Times. February 6, 2017.
- Ed Yong February 28, 2018 " Here's How The Scientists Running for Office Are Doing". The Atlantic. February 28, 2018.
- Maggie Astor January 13, 2019" An Ocean Engineer and a Nuclear Physicist Walk Into Congress …. ". New York Times. January 13, 2019.
- Emma Goldberg May 9, 2020 " Nightly Applause Is Nice, but Some Doctors Think Votes Would Be Nicer". New York Times. May 9, 2020.
- Joseph Marks May 20, 2019 " The Cybersecurity 202: These political candidates are running on their cybersecurity expertise". The Washington Post. May 20, 2019.
