Restore Our Future

Restore Our Future
Name	Restore Our Future
Type	Super PAC
Founded	2013
Founder	Ed Gillespie
Headquarters	Alexandria, Virginia
Ideology	Conservatism
Affiliation	Republican Party

Restore Our Future was a United States independent expenditure group active during the 2012 presidential election cycle. It operated as a political action committee associated with conservative advocacy and was known for producing and financing advertising in support of Republican candidates. The group played a prominent role in primary campaigning, coordinating messaging with allied organizations and engaging significant donors and media outlets.

Background and formation

Restore Our Future emerged after the 2011–2012 Republican presidential nominating contests amid competition involving Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, and Rick Perry. It was created in the context of post-Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission regulatory changes that allowed outside groups to raise and spend unlimited funds, alongside activity by entities such as American Crossroads, Priorities USA Action, Club for Growth, and American Future Fund. The group’s formation reflected tensions within the conservative movement among figures affiliated with Republican National Committee, House Republican Conference, and advocacy networks connected to Heritage Foundation, American Enterprise Institute, and consulting firms like Faegre Baker Daniels and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld.

Leadership and organization

Leadership included operatives with ties to Republican politics and lobbying, including strategists who previously worked with Ed Gillespie and consultants linked to Karl Rove, David Plouffe adversaries, and firms that had supported campaigns for John McCain, George W. Bush, Bob Dole, and Mitt Romney. The organizational structure mirrored models used by groups such as Super PACs allied to FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity, with boards and advisory committees drawing on veterans from National Republican Senatorial Committee and state party apparatuses in Virginia, Florida, and Iowa. Staff and contractors included political consultants experienced with television advertising firms, digital media companies, and polling organizations that had served clients like Karl Rove's American Crossroads and Priorities USA.

Funding and major donors

The group raised millions from high-net-worth individuals and political committees similar to donors who supported Charles and David Koch-backed efforts, Sheldon Adelson, and financiers linked to Citigroup and Goldman Sachs in prior cycles. Major contributors included bundlers and donors who had also given to Republican National Committee and various Senate and gubernatorial campaigns involving figures such as John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Chris Christie. Funding channels resembled networks used by conservative funding vehicles like Crossroads GPS and Americans for Prosperity Action, and intersected with political operatives who had worked on fundraising for Bob Dole and Phil Gramm-era committees.

Political activities and advertising

Restore Our Future produced television and digital advertising targeting primary voters in early nominating states such as Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Florida. Ads critiqued opponents including Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich while promoting narratives favorable to Mitt Romney. The group coordinated message testing with polling firms that had worked for Campaigns & Elections clients and used microtargeting techniques popularized in operations for Barack Obama campaigns and Republican data shops connected to RNC Max efforts. Its activity paralleled spending patterns of groups like Winning Our Future and American Crossroads, focusing on television markets in Des Moines, Manchester, and Columbia and employing production teams with credits on political spots for John McCain and Bob Dole.

Controversies and legal issues

The organization faced scrutiny over compliance with campaign finance rules in the wake of Citizens United and decisions by the Federal Election Commission. Critics compared its operations to controversies involving Crossroads GPS and questioned coordination boundaries highlighted in cases with Citizens United v. FEC ramifications and enforcement debates involving the FEC and Federal Communications Commission. Allegations included disputes over donor disclosure, reporting timelines, and in-kind coordination issues similar to allegations raised in matters concerning American Crossroads, Priorities USA, and Super PACs associated with Karl Rove and David Axelrod-era opponents. Legal analysts referenced precedent from cases such as Buckley v. Valeo while journalists from outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Politico reported on expenditures, donor lists, and internal communications.

Impact and legacy

Restore Our Future’s spending contributed to debates about the role of independent expenditures in presidential primaries, informing academic and policy discussions at institutions such as Harvard Kennedy School, Stanford University, Brookings Institution, American Enterprise Institute, and Brennan Center for Justice. Its activities influenced subsequent Super PAC strategies used in the 2016 and 2020 cycles involving groups supporting Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and others, and fed into legislative and regulatory conversations in Congress and state capitals about disclosure rules, with hearings in United States Senate and United States House of Representatives committees. The legacy includes changes in donor behavior, media buying tactics in battleground states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania, and scholarly work analyzing independent expenditure effects on nomination outcomes at universities like Princeton University and Yale University.

Category:Political action committees