Brian Sims Named CEO of Pro-LGBTQ “Agenda PAC”
The PAC seeks to raise money to mount voter education campaigns targeting incumbent lawmakers with anti-LGBTQ records.
Agenda PAC, the political action committee focused on electing officials who support LGBTQ rights and reproductive choice, has named former Pennsylvania State Rep. Brian Sims as its new CEO.
“I’m so honored to announce that I’ve officially accepted the role of CEO at Agenda PAC!” Sims said in a September 17 post on X. “We identify the most beatable bigots each election cycle & have already had major success in defeating some of the country’s most anti-LGBTQ+ candidates.”
The national political action committee, founded in 2022 by Ted Bordelon, is known for its efforts to target and defeat anti-LGBTQ politicians at various levels of government. The PAC has enjoyed success by defeating candidates backed by Moms for Liberty, the right-wing “parental rights” group that pushes for anti-LGBTQ policies or censorship of books with LGBTQ themes and characters.
Sims told The Advocate in a recent interview that candidates for office face the difficult task of boosting their name recognition and educating voters about where they stand on various issues.
As a result — and especially at a time when shadowy conservative action groups are helping fund right-wing campaigns — those candidates often have to spend nearly all of their resources explaining their own platforms rather than highlighting their opponents’ more extremist positions.
Agenda PAC exists to highlight the records and positions of anti-LGBTQ candidates — especially incumbents — and hold them accountable by focusing on their records of sexist, homophobic, or transphobic actions or rhetoric.
Agenda PAC uses voting records, public statements, and endorsements to identify some of the worst anti-LGBTQ political figures, with special emphasis on those who are politically vulnerable or may be out of step with their constituents.
Agenda PAC hopes to solicit donations from concerned LGBTQ individuals and allies, and steer that money toward races with vulnerable anti-LGBTQ opponents. The PAC is hoping to break its previous goal of raising and spending more than $1 million.
“[Agenda PAC] is unique, effective, and doesn’t require the moving of mountains,” Sims told The Advocate. “It requires gathering friends and sharing information — stuff that I think I am really good at — and so, if nothing else, in the most important political era that I can imagine, I’m excited, and I’m really grateful to be working with some of the smartest political people I know and LGBTQ+ politics and getting to do it in this new role.”
“Brian is exactly the leader we need right now,” Bordelon, who serves as the PAC’s chairman, said in a press release. “[He]will help Agenda PAC take on more bigots and protect the rights of LGBTQ+ Americans.”
Ahead of the 2024 elections, Agenda PAC has identified 10 politicians as “beatable bigots,” labeling them the “Hate Squad.”
They are:
- U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert, who represents California’s 41st Congressional District, which includes areas with large LGBTQ populations such as Palm Springs and the surrounding environs.
- Florida State Rep. Susan Plasencia (R-Orlando), who represents a House district in the Orlando suburbs.
- Florida State Rep. Fabian Basabe (R-Miami Beach), who, despite representing historically LGBTQ communities, supported the state’s attempts to ban drag shows and the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
- Iowa State Rep. Jon Dunwell.
- Missouri State Rep. Bill Allen.
- Oklahoma State Rep. Eric Roberts.
- North Carolina State Rep. Tricia Cotham.
- North Carolina State Sen. Buck Newton.
- Pennsylvania State Reps. Valerie Gaydos and Joe Emrick.
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