2016 Third super PAC joins Rand Paul coalition

There are now three — count them, three — super PACs supporting Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul’s 2016 presidential bid.

According to FEC filings on Monday, the third super PAC, PurplePAC, is being run by Cato Institute co-founder and president emeritus Ed Crane and aims to focus on digital media.


PurplePAC raised roughly $1.2 million from four donations in the last month — including from Jeff Yass, a Philadelphia options trader who gave $1 million to the new super PAC (he also gave the same amount to America’s Liberty, another pro-Paul super PAC). Philadelphia real estate investor Howie Rich donated $25,000 and Crane donated $5,000.

America’s Liberty is run by Jesse Benton, a longtime staffer for Senator Paul and former Rep. Ron Paul, as well as John Tate, who serves as president of the Campaign for Liberty. That PAC emphasizes paid media.

There’s also the Concerned American Voters, which focuses on grassroots organizing. The president of that super PAC is Jeff Frazee; former FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe serves as a senior adviser.

America’s Liberty raised $3.13 million in the first half of the year and Concerned American Voters told POLITICO last week it had raised $1.88 million.