InfluenceWatch, a project of Capital Research Center, is a comprehensive and evolving compilation of our research on the numerous interest groups, foundations and donors that seek to influence the political process. The site provides transparency into the funding, motives and connections of these influencers while offering insights often neglected by other watchdog groups.
The information compiled in InfluenceWatch provides news organizations and other interested parties with research they can use to report on important issues that are often overlooked by the American public.
CRC is pleased to share some of the key additions to InfluenceWatch from the past week:
- Vote Solar is a solar energy advocacy group that advocates for government regulations to create what it calls a “100% clean energy future.” Vote Solar has received donations from left-leaning organizations including the Sandler Foundation, the Climate Imperative Foundation and the Energy Foundation. Starting in 2024, the group’s proposals include weather-dependent energy initiatives with a focus on “equitable access” and promoting state solar energy policies.
- Alianza Americas is a network of advocacy groups working to expand immigration to the United States. It has received funding from several left-leaning organizations, including the Open Society Foundations, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, and the New Venture Fund. In addition, it has received federal grants from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2024, Alianza Americas joined the League of United Latin American Citizens and the Central American Resource Center in a press conference calling for more federal aid for “recently arrived and long-term immigrants.”
- Pennsylvania Values (PA Values) is a Super PAC that supports Democratic Party candidates in the state. PA Values has received funding from the left-leaning group Global Impact Social Welfare Fund, as well as several unions and related organizations, including the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Working for Working Americans, and the Communications Workers of America Working Voices. In 2024, PA Values ran an ad urging “MAGA Patriots” to “stand firmly with President Trump” and oppose mail-in voting. The Trump campaign accused PA Values of election interference for running the ad, which law professor Richard Hasen called “borderline criminal.”
- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Minnesota is the state affiliate of the national Muslim advocacy group CAIR. In April 2024, CAIR Minnesota announced legal action against the University of Minnesota for firing campus diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) manager Mashal Sherzad over social media posts, including an image of her posing in front of an Israeli flag with swastikas painted on it at a pro-Palestinian march. CAIR Minnesota board chair Mayzer Muhammad was the former president of the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) at the University of St. Thomas, where he survived a vote of no confidence when anti-Semitic tweets he had previously made were uncovered, including one in which he called Israel the “scum of the earth.”
- David’s Legacy is a Texas-based advocacy group that works to prevent cyberbullying and protect teens from harmful online content. The group was founded in 2016 after David Bartlett Molak of San Antonio, Texas, committed suicide after being cyberbullied. His father, Mathew M. Molak, is president of David’s Legacy. In 2024, ParentsSOS, a project co-sponsored by David’s Legacy, supported the federal Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) to restrict harmful content for children on social media platforms. The left-leaning Electronic Frontier Foundation (EEF) argues that KOSA violates the First Amendment.
