Politics

Former Republicans Launch Campaign to Stop MAGA

By Jake Beardslee · December 19, 2025

A group of former Republican strategists is preparing to invest heavily in efforts to unseat GOP incumbents aligned with the MAGA movement in the 2026 midterm elections. The Save America Movement (SAM), co-founded by Steve Schmidt, plans to spend $100 million backing Democratic challengers in key House races.

The organization has recently shifted from messaging and advocacy to direct campaign funding, signaling an escalation in its efforts to counter MAGA influence within the Republican Party. SAM is initially targeting 10 Republican-held House districts, including those represented by Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin and Pete Stauber of Minnesota.

In a statement outlining the group’s rationale, the Save America Movement said, “The consequences are too great, the stakes too high, and too many Americans’ lives hang in the balance.”

Mary Corcoran, SAM’s co-founder and executive director, said the organization views the 2026 midterms as a pivotal opportunity to weaken MAGA-aligned Republican power in Congress. “The Save America movement was started with the express mission of defeating MAGA, but the electoral side, particularly the 2026 elections, is absolutely critical to that mission,” Corcoran told Politico.

SAM also intends to begin advertising and voter messaging earlier than the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), a strategy Corcoran said is necessary to counter long-standing Republican advantages in early voter engagement. “Republicans have always been really good about speaking to voters early,” she said. “We need to fill that gap and ensure by the time the candidates are actually campaigning, the voters already have a perspective in their minds about how they’re going to vote.”

The DCCC has welcomed SAM’s involvement, calling it a helpful boost for Democrats aiming to reclaim control of the House. Republicans, however, dismissed the effort as evidence of Democratic vulnerability.

Responding to the announcement, National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Mike Marinella said, “Their primaries are a socialist brawl, their coalition is crumbling, and voters see a party that can’t get anything right.”