A PAC that views itself as youth-driven and grass-roots called the Liberty Action Fund is planning on throwing its support behind former Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas and other like-minded candidates. The Liberty Action Fund is an offshoot of Young Americans for Liberty, a libertarian youth group that boasts 500 chapters with a total of 125,000 participants. Jeff Frazee, Young Americans for Liberty’s executive director, said, “We are just getting started. Our hope is to raise between $10,000 and $50,000 per candidate.”
They have a long way to go; the Center for Responsive Politics said the Liberty Action Fund has only raised $16,000, a pittance when compared to the conservative Club for Growth, which paid out more than $17 million in the 2012 election campaign.
The majority of the funding for the group, roughly $10,000, has come from one couple, Cyan and Scott Banister. The Banisters have been involved with PayPal and IronPort Systems; Scott Banister co-founded IronPort and sold it for $830 million to Cisco Systems in 2007. The Banisters also co-founded Zivity, an adult photography and networking site. Frazee confirmed that Scott banister was a major investor, but said he was “not very familiar” with Zivity.
Liberty Action Fund has endorsed six candidates this cycle, including incumbent Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich. and state Sen. Chris McDaniel of Mississippi. Business owner Bryan Smith, contending with eight-term Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, was endorsed by the group, and said, “I am thankful to receive the endorsement from the Young Americans for Liberty Action Fund PAC. It is a group that is dedicated to fighting to protect our freedoms and liberties from an overreaching federal government.”
The Liberty Action Fund supported Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas in 2012, when the majority of their funds did not come from the Banisters.