US Senator Abdul El-Sayed launches ‘Habibi’ political action committee

According to OpenSecrets, ambitious lawmakers use leadership PACs to gain clout with colleagues and strengthen bids for leadership posts or committee chairmanships. Michigan Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed has launched a political action committee called “Habibi PAC”, days after becoming the first Muslim member of the United States Senate. Political action committees, or PACs, are organisations that raise and spend money to support or oppose candidates for office.

A Federal Election Commission filing dated on Thursday shows that Habibi PAC is registered as a leadership PAC sponsored by El-Sayed. Such committees are separate from a politician’s own campaign. He is one of several newly elected Democrats to register leadership PACs since Tuesday’s vote, according to FEC filings.

They include Arizona Congressman-elect Amish Shah’s “PACStreet Boy”, Iowa Senator-elect Josh Turek’s “WheelPAC” and North Carolina Senator-elect Roy Cooper’s “One NC PAC”.