Sen. Cory Booker said 'there should be no super PACs for anyone,' but now he's raising money for one

• Sen. Cory Booker is fundraising for former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' anti-gun super PAC.
• In the past, Booker was opposed to super PACs, saying "there should be no super PACs for anyone."

Democratic Sen. Cory Booker used to hate on super PACs, saying "there should be no super PACs for anyone."

Now, less than a month away from the 2022 midterm election, he's raising money for a super PAC — one led by former Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

In a fundraising email this week, Booker asked his supporters to contribute to the Giffords PAC, founded by Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly — now a US senator representing Arizona — to elect supporters of gun control to public office.

"The cost of gun violence is immeasurable," he wrote in the email. "Every gunshot wound and every mass shooting leaves an indelible mark on our nation's soul."

Alluding to the upcoming election in November, he added: "Giffords is leading the fight on this issue, and if we can win a few more seats this November, greater change is possible."

He ended the email with the call to action: "Can you please contribute $3, or whatever amount you can afford today, directly to Giffords PAC? Please help my friend Gabby Giffords continue her fight to make our communities safer from gun violence."

'No super PACs for anyone'

In the past, Booker hasn't been so keen on super PACs.

When asked in 2019 by Huffington Post reporter Igor Bobic whether a super PAC that is supporting his candidacy for president should be shut down, Booker responded, "I believe there should be no super PACs for anyone ... I urge anyone and everyone not to have super PACs in this race."

Booker, who at the time was running his 2020 presidential campaign, said his election will be "run and powered by the people."

"That's why we're not taking corporate money, federal lobbyist money, pharma executive money," Booker told Bobic.

But Steve Phillips, a wealthy Democratic donor who was Booker's classmate at Stanford University, created a super PAC, Dream United, to support Booker's candidacy.

In response to Phillips' launching a super PAC supporting Booker's presidential bid, Booker spokesman Jeff Giertz restated Booker's opposition to super PACs.

In an email to HuffPost, he wrote: "Cory 2020 is rejecting contributions from corporate PACs and federal lobbyists. Cory opposes super PACs aiming to support his or anyone's candidacy for president."

The PAC eventually shut down, after Booker reiterated his stance on super PACs and donors showed little interest.

Booker's office did not respond to Insider's requests for comment.

Originally named the Americans for Responsible Solutions Political Action Committee, Giffords PAC was created after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut — two years after the Jan. 8, 2011, mass shooting in Tucson that killed six people and injured Giffords and 12 others at a constituent event.

Since then, the United States has endured numerous mass shootings, many of which have involved assault-style rifles capable of firing dozens of rounds per minute.

Giffords PAC initially formed as a super PAC, which allows it to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money, including from corporate, labor union, and certain "dark money" nonprofit sources, to advocate for and against political candidates.

In 2016, federal records indicate it evolved into a so-called "hybrid PAC" — a committee that operates both as a super PAC and a traditional PAC, with the latter empowered to make limited but direct financial contributions to political candidates.

Booker's fundraising message leads donors to a donation page where money raised will go to the super PAC side of the operation.

The committee reported nearly $5 million in reserve as of August 31, according to Federal Election Commission records.