Dan Conston To Leave Chief House Gop Super Pac

Veteran GOP operative Dan Conston is leaving his role running House Republicans’ top super PAC.

His six-year tenure at the Congressional Leadership Fund saw Republicans capture a narrow majority in 2022 and maintain it in 2024. Conston, a top ally of Kevin McCarthy, remained in charge of the group after Mike Johnson took over the speakership.

His departure means Johnson will have to install another operative to lead the group in 2026, when Republicans will seek to defend a tiny majority during Donald Trump’s second administration. Conston will stay on as a senior adviser for the super PAC and its sister nonprofit, the American Action Network.

Conston was involved in candidate recruitment and had deep connections with the donor community — relationships that became more important when McCarthy lost his role as speaker because Johnson was less experienced in fundraising.

“It’s been an honor of a lifetime to lead CLF and help House Republicans win and retain the majority,” Conston said. “We’ve accomplished everything we set out to do. It’s time to let others grow it to the next level.”

Both the current and former House speaker praised Conston. In a statement, McCarthy called him “one of the sharpest political minds in the business.” Johnson said keeping “our majority would not have been possible” without him. “Dan Conston knows how to do the only thing that matters in politics: WIN,” said House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), who led the House GOP campaign arm in 2022 when they took back the majority.

CLF is the largest spender in House races for Republicans, and it became more important as GOP candidates struggled to keep up with Democrats’ massive fundraising. The group often carried the Republican message in districts when its party’s candidate could not afford to air many ads of their own.

CLF and its sister nonprofit raised $871 million during Conston’s tenure.