SINCE 1828
political action committee
nounDefinition of political action committee
: a group formed (as by an industry or an issue-oriented organization) to raise and contribute money to the campaigns of candidates likely to advance the group's interests
Examples of political action committee in a Sentence
The governor received over $3 million in campaign contributions from political action committees.
Recent Examples on the Web
Just this year alone, the NRA spent $1.6 million lobbying Congress, and from 1998-2016, more than $13 million was given to candidates, parties and political action committees. — Ann Ravel, The Mercury News, "Opinion: Campaign finance reform is key to ending NRA hold on Congress," 18 Aug. 2019 Since 1990, members of the entertainment industry have contributed more than $261 million to candidates and political action committees, with 81% of that money going to Democrats, according to data posted on OpenSecrets.org. — Los Angeles Times, "Seth MacFarlane has quietly become one of Hollywood’s major political donors," 11 Aug. 2019 As of July 24, 2019, 21 Democratic presidential candidates signed a pledge to not take any contributions over $200 from oil, gas and coal industry executives, lobbyists and political action committees. — Sophie Austin, orlandosentinel.com, "Climate change: Where 2020 Democratic candidates for president stand," 26 July 2019 Mike McCloskey, the owner of the farm that produces milk in a joint venture with Coca-Cola, and his companies have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars state and federal campaigns and political action committees in the past 10 years. — Indianapolis Star, "Hogsett's home fix gets IndyStar scrutiny, and Buttigieg delivers foreign policy speech," 12 June 2019 That could matter in the 2018 midterm elections if young people turn out to vote, a result that campaigns and political action committees are spending big money to produce. — Hannah Fingerhut, The Seattle Times, "AP-NORC/MTV Poll: Young people looking for younger leaders," 30 July 2018 Environmental groups, public employee unions and House Democrats' political action committee have thrown their financial support behind Tiffiny Mitchell, 34, a state child welfare worker who moved to Astoria about three years ago from Utah. — OregonLive.com, "May primary could determine whether Oregon Legislature’s Democrats move left," 2 May 2018 Hyde-Smith’s campaign was a top recipient of donations from the National Chicken Council’s political action committee, according to Federal Election Commission reports. — Washington Post, "These poultry plants used E-Verify. They still hired hundreds of undocumented workers.," 16 Aug. 2019 In the meantime, John Wentworth, 51, of Oregon City, filed paperwork with the Oregon Secretary of State in late July to form a political action committee, laying the groundwork for a run for office in 2020. — oregonlive.com, "Longtime Clackamas County prosecutor says he will run for DA," 8 Aug. 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'political action committee.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more
Comments on political action committee
What made you want to look up political action committee? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Test Your Vocabulary
Musical Words Quiz
-
- Which word describes a musical performance marked by the absence of instrumental accompaniment?
Test your vocabulary with our 10-question quiz!
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Words at Play
Share political action committee
Resources for political action committee