2005-2014 A
PowerPoint presentation, "The Conservative Message Machine Money Matrix", created by
Rob Stein and shown to individuals and small groups of donors in 2003 and 2004, is often credited as being the impetus for the group's formation. The first meeting of the Democracy Alliance was held at The Boulders near
Scottsdale, Arizona, in April 2005. Rob Stein was appointed interim CEO, pending the group's selection of a permanent leader.
George Soros,
Peter B. Lewis and
Tim Gill were all involved in the organization's founding. In July 2006, Rob McKay was elected chairman of the board and
Anna Burger of the
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) was elected vice chair. In 2012, the Democracy Alliance ceased funding a number of prominent progressive organizations. According to the
Huffington Post, "The groups dropped by the Democracy Alliance tend to be those that work outside the [Democratic] party's structure." This move cost the Democracy Alliance the support of Soros ally
Peter B. Lewis, the billionaire founder of
Progressive Auto Insurance. According to the
Huffington Post, the Democracy Alliance "is largely divided into two camps: one that prefers to focus on electing Democrats to office, and another that argues for more attention to movement and progressive infrastructure building in order to create a power center independent of the Democratic Party apparatus." The strategy is centered on electing more Democrats to state level offices to build its political influence by 2020. The Democracy Alliance planned to raise more than $150 million over five years to assist more than 30 groups, including organizations focused on battles to increase the minimum wage, oppose voter ID laws, address global warming and reduce the influence of money in elections. As of 2015, the Democracy Alliance, which does not disclose its membership, was reported to have about 110 partners who were required to contribute at least $200,000 a year to groups it vets and recommends. Members included
Tom Steyer and some of the U.S.'s biggest labor unions. In advance of the 2020 elections, the Democracy Alliance retooled its strategy and began to focus on "playing down longtime relationships with groups in Washington and instead preparing to pour $100 million into key states to help defeat President Donald Trump." In September 2023, it was revealed that the Democracy Alliance was against the
No Labels political group's wish to nominate a presidential candidate, in fear that such a candidate may result in Trump's win. In 2024, the Democracy Alliance planned to spend tens of millions of dollars on elections in California in New York in order to win control of the U.S. House of Representatives for Democrats. According to
NBC News, "The nation's largest network of left-leaning megadonors poured millions of dollars into California and New York House races this year to build a get-out-the-vote operation in states so blue that Democrats have not bothered to build much political infrastructure." In November 2024,
The New York Times reported that "the typically sedate biannual meeting of the Democracy Alliance, a network of major liberal donors, became a four-day group therapy session" after the re-election of President
Donald Trump. ==Personnel==