# Commonwealth Leaders Fund **Commonwealth Leaders Fund** is the independent-expenditure arm of billionaire [[Jeff Yass]]'s Pennsylvania political network. It runs ads and mailers rather than giving to candidates directly. Legally it is a **Section 527 political organization** registered with Pennsylvania as a state PAC. In practice it is how the state's richest man, a co-founder of the trading firm [[Susquehanna International Group]], shapes Republican primaries and judicial elections. ## How the money moves Yass has given about **$41.7 million** since 2010 to **Students First PAC**, which he co-founded that year with two Susquehanna partners to push [[School Choice]]. Students First then funds two vehicles run by operative [[Matt Brouillette]]: - **Commonwealth Children's Choice Fund** gives **directly to candidates**. - **Commonwealth Leaders Fund** runs **independent ads**. A related business group, Commonwealth Partners Chamber of Entrepreneurs, is a 501(c)(6). Because of the layering, Yass's name rarely appears on the ads. ## What it has bought - **2021 Supreme Court race.** It supplied about two-thirds of Republican Kevin Brobson's $3.4 million, and Brobson won a seat. - **2022 governor primary.** It spent **$7.9 million** on ads boosting former U.S. Attorney Bill McSwain, while the Choice Fund gave McSwain **$4.9 million** directly. It was the establishment's attempt to stop [[Doug Mastriano]], and it failed: Mastriano won the nomination, then lost to [[Josh Shapiro]]. - **2023 Supreme Court race.** It spent about **$4.4 million** for Republican Carolyn Carluccio, more than three times her own campaign's spending. She lost to Democrat Dan McCaffery. - **2025 retention election.** It paid for "Term limit the liberal Supreme Court" mailers, about $185,000 by mid-September, which made false claims about gerrymandering. Most of the roughly $4.8 million anti-retention campaign ran through two Brouillette-led nonprofits, Commonwealth Partners and Citizens for Term Limits. That kept donors undisclosed. On Nov 4, 2025, all three Democratic justices (Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht) were retained with about 62% of the vote. ## 2026 According to Keystone Newsroom (Sept 2026), Yass put **$20.5 million** into Students First for the 2026 cycle, after giving the Leaders Fund **$13.4 million** in 2024. Both figures are single-source. Republican Treasurer Stacy Garrity won the May 19 gubernatorial primary unopposed to face Shapiro. How much the Leaders Fund has spent in that race has not been confirmed. ## Why it matters The Leaders Fund is the vault's clearest state-level example of three things: - **One donor, several vehicles.** The money is split into separate legal channels so that no single filing shows its full scope. - **Judicial races as the target.** Court races draw the money because a state supreme court decides on maps and vouchers. - **A losing record.** Its own record is mostly losses, which is a reminder that money buys reach, not wins. See [[Dark Money Ecosystem]] and [[School Choice Ecosystem]]. ## See Also - [[Jeff Yass]] · [[Matt Brouillette]] · [[Susquehanna International Group]] - [[School Choice]] · [[School Choice Ecosystem]] · [[Dark Money]] · [[Dark Money Ecosystem]]