McCarthy rebels received millions from McCarthy-aligned campaigns in past elections

Political fundraising groups tied to Kevin McCarthy have for years thrown millions of dollars behind select conservative candidates.

Now, those lawmakers are standing in the way of the California Republican ascending to the speaker’s chair.

All of the 21 House Republicans who voted against Mr. McCarthy in one of the 10 attempts to elect him speaker as of Thursday evening have individually benefited to the tune of thousands of dollars in recent elections from political groups tied to Mr. McCarthy.  

The campaign donations show that the fundraising efforts may have helped the GOP retake the House majority, but the money has failed to help Mr. McCarthy win over enough conservative holdouts.

Federal campaign-finance records show that Mr. McCarthy’s leadership PAC, the Majority Committee, and House Republicans’ super PAC, the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), have cumulatively invested millions of dollars into all 21 rebels in past elections, mostly in the form of $5,000 or $10,000 donations.

Those members include Reps. Dan Bishop of North Carolina, Michael Cloud and Chip Roy of Texas, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Matt Rosendale of Montana, Andrew Clyde of Georgia, Byron Donalds and Matt Gaetz of Florida, Bob Good of Virginia, Andy Harris of Maryland, Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar of Arizona, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Victoria Spartz of Indiana and Mary Miller of Illinois. Incoming members Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma, Eli Crane of Arizona, Keith Self of Texas and Andy Ogles of Tennessee also received help from the two PACs.

But some of the beneficiaries have received far greater sums in the form of ad buys to help the Republicans beat their Democratic opponents.

In 2022, CLF spent $900,000 on Mr. Crane. In 2020, CLF spent $1.8 million on Mr. Good and $1.5 million on Mr. Perry, according to Open Secrets. CLF also spent more than $1 million on Ms. Spartz in 2020, according to Politico.