American Principles Project
A socially conservative American political advocacy organization that uses research, polling, and campaign advertising to promote family-centered and socially conservative policies.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
The American Principles Project (APP) is a United States political advocacy organization founded in 2009 by legal scholar Robert P. George and political strategist Francis P. Cannon, with Jeff Bell also associated with its founding and early policy work. It was initially known as American Principles in Action. APP operates as a socially conservative advocacy group rather than as a conventional consumer-facing brand. Its work combines policy research, voter research, coalition building, public communications, and electoral campaign activity. The organization is headquartered in Arlington County, Virginia. APP has concentrated on the view that conservative candidates should campaign more heavily on social and family issues instead of relying primarily on economic themes. Its policy interests have included parental rights, abortion restrictions, opposition to same-sex marriage and transgender rights, criticism of Common Core education standards, restrictions on pornography, school choice, family-oriented tax policy, paid parental leave, immigration reform, monetary policy, and opposition to perceived censorship or political influence by major technology companies. Its positions have changed in emphasis over time, but social issues have remained central to its identity. The organization’s early activities included promoting socially conservative ideas within Republican politics and supporting opposition to Common Core. In 2011 it sponsored the Palmetto Freedom Forum, a Republican presidential primary debate focused on limited government, social conservatism, and related Tea Party themes. APP also promoted a return to the gold standard and other hard-money ideas, including through public events and a 2015 monetary-policy conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. After the Republican Party’s 2012 election review recommended reducing the prominence of social issues, APP published research arguing that family and social concerns remained important to the Republican coalition. During the 2016 Republican primaries, it promoted a pledge supporting the First Amendment Defense Act. By the late 2010s and early 2020s, the organization increasingly focused its electoral messaging on parental rights, education, pornography, and opposition to gender-affirming care for transgender people. It has used polling, focus groups, behavioral research, and digital advertising to test which messages are most likely to motivate conservative voters. APP is affiliated with the American Principles Project PAC, a super PAC originally established in 2015 under the name Campaign for American Principles, and with the American Principles Project Foundation, a related 501(c)(3) nonprofit think tank. The PAC has funded advertising in federal, state, and local elections. Its campaigns have included attacks on Democratic candidates over transgender policy, education, and alleged effects on children’s sports and medical care. APP also tested its messaging through school-board elections and other state-level contests. The organization has drawn substantial criticism from LGBTQ-rights advocates, fact-checkers, journalists, and civil-rights organizations over advertisements and statements concerning transgender people. Critics have characterized some of its campaign materials as misleading or hostile. APP has defended its messaging as an effort to raise public concern about parental authority, children’s medical treatment, and sex-segregated sports. It became involved in the wider conservative policy network associated with Project 2025 and its president, Terry Schilling, advised the 2024 Republican National Convention platform committee on social and family issues. APP remains an active U.S. advocacy organization whose influence is exercised mainly through policy messaging, political advertising, and conservative coalition work.
History
APP was created in 2009 as American Principles in Action by Robert P. George and Francis P. Cannon, with Jeff Bell becoming an important early policy figure. The organization sought to build a grassroots conservative movement around social and moral issues. Its early agenda included opposition to same-sex marriage, criticism of abortion rights, education-policy activism, and monetary reform. In 2010 Bell served as policy director and developed a project advocating a return to the gold standard. APP’s monetary-policy work included speeches and a bus tour in Iowa before the 2012 Republican caucuses. In 2011 the organization sponsored the Palmetto Freedom Forum, a Republican presidential debate that gave candidates an opportunity to address Tea Party and socially conservative concerns. Following the Republican Party’s post-2012 review, which urged candidates to place less emphasis on social issues, APP published research arguing that social and family issues remained electorally important. It continued to oppose Common Core and supported state legislative efforts to withdraw from the standards. APP staff and affiliated researchers produced reports criticizing centralized education policy and argued that Republican candidates should not embrace Common Core without qualification. APP also remained active in debates over marriage and religious liberty. It declined to attend the 2011 Conservative Political Action Conference because GOProud, a gay conservative organization, had been included. After the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, APP created an affiliated super PAC, initially named Campaign for American Principles, to conduct electoral advocacy. During the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, APP promoted a pledge supporting the First Amendment Defense Act. The organization criticized Donald Trump for not immediately signing the pledge, although he later supported it. APP’s other policy work addressed immigration, monetary policy, pornography, family taxation, parental leave, and technology-company regulation. Its Hispanic-engagement work included support for birthright citizenship and a legal pathway for undocumented immigrants, positions that sometimes differed from Donald Trump’s immigration rhetoric during the 2016 campaign. From the late 2010s onward, transgender policy became APP’s most prominent campaign focus. The organization conducted research into which messages were most effective with voters and concluded that children’s sports and medical treatment were more mobilizing subjects than bathroom legislation. Its PAC funded advertisements and robocalls in multiple states, while APP leaders described opposition to gender-affirming care as a long-term objective. Critics, including civil-rights organizations and journalists, accused the organization of using deceptive or inflammatory claims; APP maintained that it was highlighting parental rights and child protection. In 2021 APP launched a family-oriented membership program and criticized major technology companies for alleged political censorship. It also created a website and browser extension tracking institutional funding from major technology companies in the context of antitrust debates. In 2022 it used the name Maine Today & Public Insight for polling and messaging tests in Maine, prompting criticism because of possible confusion with an existing media organization. The APP PAC expanded its election spending in 2022 and 2023. Its advertisements focused heavily on transgender policy, education, and parental rights. Some were challenged by schools, fact-checkers, or political opponents as inaccurate. The PAC supported Daniel Kelly in Wisconsin’s 2023 Supreme Court election and opposed Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, who nevertheless won reelection. APP also joined the advisory board of Project 2025, a conservative federal-policy initiative, and its president advised the Republican platform process in 2024. The organization remains active as a socially conservative advocacy and campaign-messaging group.
- 2024
Republican platform involvement
[1]Terry Schilling advised the Republican National Convention platform committee on social and family issues.
- 2023
Expanded election advertising
[1]The PAC funded major advertising campaigns in Wisconsin and Kentucky centered on transgender policy and education.
- 2022
School-board and state-level campaign testing
[1]The APP PAC used local school-board advertising and Maine polling to test parental-rights and anti-transgender messages.
- 2021
Family membership program launched
[1]APP introduced a membership initiative intended to mobilize families around its policy agenda.
- 2019
Family and parental-rights strategy broadened
[1]APP published research emphasizing married, family-oriented voters and expanded messaging on parental rights, education, pornography, abortion, and family policy.
- 2015
Super PAC established
[1]APP created an affiliated super PAC after the Obergefell same-sex-marriage ruling.
- 2011
Palmetto Freedom Forum
[1]APP sponsored a Republican presidential primary debate focused on conservative and Tea Party issues.
- 2010
Gold-standard policy project begins
[1]Jeff Bell became policy director and developed advocacy for returning to the gold standard.
- 2009
Organization founded
[1]Robert P. George and Francis P. Cannon founded the organization, initially known as American Principles in Action, to advance socially conservative political ideas.
Products and positioning
A socially conservative, family-policy-focused advocacy organization that seeks to make cultural and social issues central to conservative electoral strategy.
Research and advocacy
Policy reports
APP publishes or supports policy research intended to shape conservative debate and electoral messaging. Topics have included Common Core, family policy, abortion, parental rights, monetary reform, pornography regulation, technology companies, and transgender policy.
Campaign communications · 2015
Political advertising
Through its affiliated PAC and advocacy operations, APP develops television, digital, and telephone advertising for elections. Its recent advertising has concentrated on parental rights, children’s sports, education, and opposition to gender-affirming care.
Political research
Polling and focus-group research
APP uses polling, focus groups, and behavioral research to evaluate language and issues that may motivate conservative voters. The organization has tested messages involving Common Core, DEI, transgender policy, sports, and family concerns.
Membership and organizing · 2021
Family membership program
Introduced in 2021, the family-oriented membership initiative was designed to build a durable constituency around parental rights and socially conservative policy priorities.
Controversies
2023
Wisconsin and Kentucky advertising disputes
APP-funded advertisements in two state campaigns made contested claims about transgender youth, schools, and healthcare, prompting criticism from opponents and fact-checkers.
2022
Maine polling-name controversy
APP used the name Maine Today & Public Insight for polling and was criticized because it could be confused with an existing Maine media organization.
2022
Florida school-board advertising claims
APP PAC advertisements accused local Democrats of promoting transgender ideology and critical race theory; school representatives said the claims were false.
2020
Disputed Biden advertisement
An APP PAC advertisement made claims about Joe Biden and medical treatment for children that were judged potentially misleading by a fact-checking review, after which Facebook rejected the ad.
2017
Virginia anti-transgender robocalls
APP ran robocalls targeting a district represented by Danica Roem, a transgender candidate, drawing criticism over the campaign’s treatment of transgender identity.
Marketing campaigns
- 2023Wisconsin Supreme Court campaign
Wisconsin, United States
APP PAC advertising supported Daniel Kelly and attacked his opponent using claims involving school policies and transgender youth.
Outcome. Kelly lost the election to Janet Protasiewicz.
- 2023Kentucky gubernatorial campaign
Kentucky, United States
APP PAC spent on advertising opposing Governor Andy Beshear and linking his reelection to claims about transgender children and families.
Outcome. Beshear won reelection; critics characterized several advertisements as inaccurate.
- 2022Parental-rights election campaigns
United States
The APP PAC funded advertisements in several states and a Florida school-board test campaign addressing education, transgender issues, and critical race theory.
Outcome. The messaging drew criticism from school officials and opponents who disputed factual claims.
- 2019Transgender sports messaging research
United States
APP used research to compare voter responses to bathroom legislation and messaging about transgender participation in women’s sports.
Outcome. The organization adopted sports and children-focused messaging as a central campaign approach.
- 2016First Amendment Defense Act pledge
United States
APP asked Republican presidential candidates to pledge support for the First Amendment Defense Act.
Outcome. Most Republican candidates supported the pledge, and APP publicly criticized Donald Trump before he later backed it.
- 2012Common Core opposition
United States
APP supported reports, testimony, and state-level organizing against Common Core education standards.
Outcome. The campaign made opposition to Common Core a recurring component of APP’s education-policy work.
- 2011Palmetto Freedom Forum
United States
APP sponsored a Republican presidential primary debate featuring conservative questions on limited government, social policy, and Tea Party concerns.
Outcome. The event provided APP with an early national platform for its policy agenda.
Brand decisions
2023
Advocate restrictions on gender-affirming careStrategyBackground
APP increasingly focused on transgender youth and stated that it opposed gender-affirming care more broadly.
Action taken
Its leaders supported state restrictions beginning with minors and described elimination of such care as a long-term policy objective.
Aftermath
The position became a major theme of APP PAC advertising and attracted extensive criticism from LGBTQ-rights organizations.
2021
Build a family-focused membership networkStrategyBackground
APP sought to convert issue interest into a longer-term grassroots constituency.
Action taken
It launched a membership program described as an NRA-style organization for families.
Aftermath
The initiative broadened APP’s organizing model beyond policy reports and campaign advertising.
2019
Prioritize parental-rights messagingStrategyBackground
APP concluded that family-oriented voters were especially important to the conservative coalition and that social issues could improve voter motivation.
Action taken
The organization emphasized parental rights, education, children’s sports, abortion, pornography, and family policy in its research and communications.
Aftermath
Parental-rights and transgender-policy messaging became central to APP’s subsequent campaigns.
2015
Create an affiliated super PACStrategyBackground
Following the Supreme Court’s decision recognizing same-sex marriage, APP sought a stronger electoral vehicle for its social-conservative agenda.
Action taken
It established a super PAC initially called Campaign for American Principles.
Aftermath
The PAC became a major channel for APP’s later state and federal political advertising.
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