A new centrist Democratic group called Promise to America that is pushing back against progressives will not say who is funding its effort—but is closely tied to the Welcome Party, a group whose PAC has received more than half of its individual contributions from billionaires.
Combined, billionaires and other wealthy finance industry executives have provided about three quarters of WelcomePAC’s funding raised from individuals, according to a Sludge analysis of Federal Election Commission records. Donations under $5,000 to WelcomePAC made up less than two percent of its total funds.
Last Thursday, days after progressives including two democratic socialists won primaries in New York, Promise to America (PTA) released signatures on its pledge by 10 moderate and centrist Democratic House members, as well as five Democratic candidates. The pledge reads, in part, “We are capitalist, not socialist,” and marked a shot against the progressive wing and candidates who support raising taxes on the wealthy to fund an expanded social safety net.
PTA did not respond to a Sludge inquiry on its funders or whether it had received financial support from the Welcome Party, which since 2024 has put on the annual centrist conference WelcomeFest. PTA’s pledge made its debut last month at WelcomeFest in Washington D.C., where it was presented by college students and signed by New Democrat Coalition member Rep. Tom Suozzi (N.Y.) and Blue Dog Coalition member Rep. Adam Gray (Calif.). PTA’s director, Felix Frisch, a “rising sophomore” at the University of Chicago, is the son of former U.S. House candidate Adam Frisch, who currently works as the director of electoral programs and finance chair of The Welcome Party and its PAC.
The Welcome Party also did not respond to Sludge’s inquiry about whether it had supported PTA financially.
WelcomePAC has received $6.5 million from more than a dozen billionaires, according to Sludge’s review—making up a majority of the over $10.8 million in individual contributions since its formation in 2021. Top donors include tech venture capitalist Reid Hoffman ($1.8 million), a critic of former FTC Chair Lina Khan’s antitrust posture, and James Murdoch, the former CEO of 21st Century Fox, with his wife Kathryn ($2.5 million).
Other billionaire donors to WelcomePAC include the following:
