American Future Fund

American Future Fund is a 501(c)(4) conservative nonprofit largely dedicated to running television and web ads that promote conservative causes and influence elections. Like many (c)(4) groups, the Fund has been very secretive about who controls or manages it. AFF was founded in 2008 by Nick Ryan, who worked as an advisor on Rick Santorum's 2012 presidential campaign as well as founded the pro-Santorum Super PAC, Red White and Blue Fund.Their records indicate that they were incorporated by Alex N. Vogel and his wife, Jill Holtzman Vogel, who together run the consulting agency Holtzman Vogel. The first president of the group, Nicole Schlinger, was the former executive director of the Iowa Republican Party. According to NPR, a large number of AFF's leadership were members of Mitt Romney's 2008 failed campaign for president.

The American Future Fund received $1.1 million from the Center to Protect Patient Rights in 2011 after getting $1.3 million in 2009 and $11.7 million in 2010.



Influencing the 2012 Election
AFF's outside expenditures in the 2012 election totaled more than $25 million, with more than $11 million going to support Republican Mitt Romney in his presidential bid, or to defeat Democratic Incumbent President Barack Obama. In addition, the American Future Fund also ran ads targeting Democrats in close U.S. Senate and House Races. The sections below detail Patriot Majority's involvement in races in the 2012 election, along with examples of ads they have aired against candidates in those races. At the end of each section, a short summary lists every major ad buy the group made in that particular race.

Influencing the 2012 Presidential Election
AFF was very active in the early part of the 2012 election cycle, stating that "Conservative and free market principles will be under direct attack in America". On January 23rd, they ran "The Real State of the Union", an attack ad that aired just before Barack Obama's actual state of the union address. . The ad attack Obama for failing to cut the deficit and increase the supply of renewable energy, despite the fact that both were largely the fault of republicans in congress. A second ad, which aired in February, attacked Obama, claiming that "His White House is Full of Wall Street Bankers." Several news sources including Factcheck.org have pointed out that the ad greatly exaggerates the number and imporance of Wall street bankers in the Obama White House. Later in the campaign, AFF began airing ads in support of Mitt Romney and his nominee for Vice President, congressman Paul Ryan.


 * The Real State of the Union: January 15th, 2012: $150,000
 * Obama's Wall Street: February 27th, 2012: $4 Million
 * On the Hook: April 24th, 2012: $2 Million
 * What's at Stake: August 4th, 2012: $10,000
 * Young Guns: August 13th, 2012: $23,000
 * Blame: August 20th, 2012: $692,497
 * Janesville: September 13th, 2012: $200,000
 * Janesville(rebuy): September 13th, 2012: $796,075
 * Promises: September 25th, 2012: $500,000
 * Promises (web ads): September 25th, 2012: $694,300
 * Confidence: September 29th, 2012: $260,7000
 * Janesville(web ad): October 1st, 2012: $482,615
 * Four Years(online ad):October 1st, 2012: $500,000
 * Heartbeat: October 1st, 2012: $100,000
 * Out of Time: October 4th, 2012: $120,000
 * Security: October 8th, 2012: $347,000
 * Security(online): October 8th, 2012: $342,000
 * Laugh: October 12th, 2012: $358,000
 * Fed Up: October 16th, 2012: $1 million
 * Real Solutions: October 16h, 2012: $630,000
 * A New Path: October 22nd, 2012: $545,000
 * Hands: October 26th, 2012: $769,000
 * Real Solutions(rebuy): October 29th, 2012: $227,328
 * Party Line: October 30th, 2012: $400,000 (estimate)
 * Worried: October 30th, 2012: $400,000 (estimate)
 * Everyday: October 30th, 2012: $400,000 (estimate)
 * Real Solutions (rebuy): October 30th, 2012: $487,257
 * A New Path(rebuy): October 31st, 2012: $1.9 million
 * Obama Receipt: November 1st, 2012: $120,000
 * Assorted Web Ad Buys: November 2nd, 2012: $433,336
 * Delphi: November 4th, 2012: $1 million

Influencing Arizona House Races
During the 2012 election cycle, the American Future Fund spent almost $1.4 million influencing U.S. House races in Arizona's 1st and 9th Congressional Districts. In the 1st district, they spent $1 million supporting Republican hopeful Jonathan Paton, or attacking his rival, Democrat Ann Kirtpatrick, in the 9th district, they spent $300,000 attacking Democrat Kyrsten Sinema. 1st Congressional District
 * Walk: October 1st, 2012: $411,000
 * Fought: October 1st, 2012: $169,000
 * Listening: October 21st, 2012: $500,000

9th Congressional District
 * Changed: September 18th, 2012: $308,250

Influencing California House Races
the American Future Fund invested at least $500,000 in a single attack ad against Democrat Julia Brownley, who was running for congress in California's 26th District. Their ad attacked Brownley for voting her staff pay raises instead of cutting spending.
 * Raises: October 25th, 2012: $500,000

Influencing the Nevada Senate Race
After the presidential race, American Future Fund's largest single investment in 2012 concerned the Nevada Senate Race between Republican Dean Heller and Democratic Incumbent Shelly Berkley. The American Future Fund spent $1.3 million in the Arizona senate race.
 * Battle Born: August 24th, 2012: $427,000
 * Battle Born (rebuy): November 4th, 2012: $750,000

Influencing the North Dakota Senate Race
In North Dakota, the American Future Fund ran a single ad attacking incumbent Senator Heidi Heitkamp, and supporting her opponent, Republican Rick Berg.
 * Choice: August 20th, 2012: $163,000

Influencing the New Mexico Senate Race
In New Mexico, the American Future Fund sunk at least $435,000 into defeating Democrat Martin Heinrich. They also ran at least one ad they did not disclose spending for.
 * the Heinrich Report: May 1st, 2012: $100,000
 * Frustrating: August 9th, 2012: Cost of ad not disclosed
 * Tomorrow: August 23rd, 2012: $335,000

Influencing the Wisconsin Senate Race
The American Future Fund spent at least $260,000 opposing the election of Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin, who was running against former governor Tommy Thompson to fill a seat vacated by Democrat Herb Kohl. On October 26th, they ran a thirty-second ad targeting Baldwin for her support for the EPA's Boiler Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) rule, which the AFF claimed destroyed jobs by forcing paper manufacturers to conform to burdensome regulations. A key claim in the ad comes from an Op-Ed article by Jeff Landin of the Wisconsin Paper Council, who used figures from a 2010 study commissioned by the American Forest and Paper Association and Fisher International, a consulting and information services firm to the pulp and and paper mill industry. Laurie Johnson of the Natural Resources Defense Council has criticized the study for exhibiting "a lack of understanding of even introductory-level economics." The AFF also spent at least $98,000 on a single ad supporting the election of Wisconsin Billionaire Eric Hovde, who was running in the Wisconsin Republican Primary. FEC Filings state that they produced and aired an ad called "Changed" in support of Hovde, but the ad does not appear to exist online. The AFF disclosed spending the money on August 8th, 2012.


 * What the Wisconsin Flag Thinks of Tammy Baldwin: August 20th, 2012: no spending disclosed for this ad
 * Paper: October 26th, 2012: $520,000 (the AFF classifies $260,000 as spent opposing Baldwin, and $260,000 as spent opposing Obama)

2010
In the 2010 election cycle directed its efforts at 14 "liberal" politicians that sat on committees with jurisdiction over energy and agricultural policy.

AFF has also actively campaigned vigorously against Obama's health care reforms. It created several ads targeting the bill, many of included factual inaccuracies.

In total, AFF spent over 26 million dollars in 2010. According to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, 7.3 million was spent advocating for the "election or defeat of candidates for federal office"

The American Future Fund took at least 4.5 million dollars from PhRMA in 2010.

2008
In 2008, paid for advertising supporting Minnesota Republican Senator Norm Coleman, who at the time was the co-chair of the Senate Biofuels caucus. In the same year, the group released a radio advertisement criticizing the Indy Racing League for its decision to use Brazilian sugar-based ethanol for its cars.

Ethanol Ties
AFF was started in 2008 with seed money from Bruce Rastetter, co-founder and CEO of Hawkeye Energy Holdings, a large Iowa-based ethanol company. According to the New York Times, in the 2010 elections, "hints of a possible agenda emerge from a look at the politicians on the American Future Fund's hit list. Most have seats on a handful of legislative committees with a direct say in the ethanol industry." Founder Nick Ryan's Concordia Group also counts a number of ethanol industry clients.

Funding
In 2008, its founding year, AFF is alleged to have receive $7.5 million in donations. In the 2010 election cycle, AFF admitted to spending $25 million.

Although AFF does not disclose its funders, contributions from at least three nonprofit organizations were revealed because they must disclose the identity of their grant recipients. The shadowy dark money conduit the Center to Protect Patient Rights gave AFF $1.1 million in 2011, $11.7 million in 2010 (about half their total budget), and $1.3 million in 2009. The group also received over $2.4 million in 2010 from the right-wing legal group American Justice Partnership, a Michigan-based 501(c )(4) affiliate of the National Organization of Manufactureres and who list its "partners" as including groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council and the Heritage Foundation. Also in 2010, the trade association Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA, gave AFF $300,000.

CPPR is run by Sean Noble, who Politico described as a Koch Operative, Nobel was hired by the Kochs to coordinate with other conservative superPACs to target Democratic representatives in 2010.

Leadership
Sandra Greiner, a Republican state legislator in Iowa and farmer, is the current president of the AFF.

The following individuals have held leadership positions within the AFF:
 * Nicole Schlinger
 * Tim Albrecht
 * Lisa Lisker
 * Jan Van Lohuizen
 * Ed Tobin
 * Ben Ginsberg
 * Larry McCarthy
 * Phil Musser