314 Action

314 Action is a progressive political action committee (PAC) that seeks to elect STEM-educated Democrats to higher office in the United States.

314 Action

Founded	2016; 9 years ago (2016)
Founder	Shaughnessy Naughton
Type	Political action committee
Website	www.314action.org

The group gets its name from the first three digits of the mathematical constant pi (π).^[1]

History

The organization was founded in 2016 by researcher Shaughnessy Naughton.^[2][3] Naughton is a business owner and a chemist who unsuccessfully ran for Congress as a Democrat in Pennsylvania's 8th congressional district in 2014 and 2016.^[4] She founded the group due to her worry about the election of Donald Trump and Trump's refusal to name any climate change experts to his cabinet, claiming that Trump is "anti-science".^[1]

314 Action is the only national organization dedicated to recruiting, training, and electing Democratic scientists to public office.^{[citation needed]}

314 Action has stated that the organization was inspired by EMILY's List, a progressive, pro-choice PAC that heavily contributed to Hillary Clinton's 2016 bid for president raising at least $60,000,000 for her campaign.^[1] The express goal is to increase the number of STEM-educated Democrats elected to public office.^[5][1] They have stated that they will only support Democrats, and will refuse to work with or contribute to any Republican candidate. Citing the Democratic Party's support of green politics, Naughton stated, “We felt we had to pick a team” arguing that science cannot remain above politics because "politics is not above bringing itself into science".^[1] As of 2024^[update], they have exclusively supported Democratic candidates and organizations supporting them.^[6]

In 2025, 314 Action announced plans to elect 100 new physicians to office by 2030.^[7]

2020 election

Main article: 2020 United States presidential election

In 2020, 314 Action endorsed 19 candidates^[8] for the U.S. House and U.S. Senate.

In 2020, 314 Action stated their goal was to "shame" Republicans and their donors who did not take the COVID-19 pandemic seriously, particularly Ron DeSantis, Mike DeWine, and Greg Abbott. Resistance to mask mandates, social distancing, lockdowns, and mandatory vaccinations were cited.^[9]

2024 election

314 Action spent $1.2 million on ads backing Maxine Dexter in her bid to succeed Earl Blumenauer, who retired from his seat representing Oregon's 3rd congressional district.^[10] The Intercept has reported that these funds were provided by the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC, which opposes one of Dexter's opponents, Susheela Jayapal.^[11]

More than a third of its $1.4 million in receipts reported in April 2024 came from a single donation from Michael Bloomberg. Both of Dexter's main primary opponents, Susheela Jayapal and Eddy Morales, allege that 314 Action is a front for Republican and pro-Israel interests attempting to conceal their involvement in the election.^[12] Bloomberg and Granieri are both strongly supportive of Israel and 314 Action's top three donors in April collectively contributed two-thirds of the group's funds.^[13] AIPAC's involvement was confirmed on June 20, with $1.3 million disbursed by UDP to the anti-Susheela Jayapal PAC Voters for Responsive Government, $1 million to 314 Action , and $100,000 to EDW Action Fund.^[14]