RE/MAX is one of the largest real estate brands on earth, yet it runs no corporate political action committee and reported no federal lobbying, and in the 2024 cycle the roughly $1.72 million in federal contributions tied to its name came entirely from individuals, its agents and staff, not from a company checkbook.[1] The company itself directs no money into federal politics; the tens of thousands of independently owned offices operating under its hot air balloon logo do.[2] The person who built the brand is another story: co-founder and chairman Dave Liniger personally gave almost entirely to Republicans across two decades, including a single $250,000 contribution to a Republican National Committee account in 2000.[13]
- RE/MAX runs no corporate PAC, yet its founder personally gave $250,000 to the RNC.
- RE/MAX agent giving slid from 65 percent Republican in 2016 to 53 percent by 2024.
- Independently owned offices mean RE/MAX political money comes from agents, not headquarters.
- RE/MAX paid $8.5 million in 2026 to settle a homebuyer commission antitrust case.
- RE/MAX agreed in 2026 to be acquired by The Real Brokerage for about $880 million.
Quick Take
The money that carries the RE/MAX name has leaned Republican for decades, split between an agent base that is trending toward even and a founder who gave almost entirely to Republicans. People reporting a RE/MAX affiliated employer favored Republicans by about 65 percent to 35 percent in the 2016 cycle, roughly 58 percent to 42 percent in 2020, and a near even 53 percent to 47 percent in the 2024 cycle.[1] The company keeps no PAC and reported $0 in federal lobbying in 2024, routing none of its own treasury into candidate politics.[1][3] Its only consistent corporate political language concerns housing access: RE/MAX states that it supports the Fair Housing Act and equal opportunity housing.[4]
Where the Political Money Comes From
OpenSecrets tracks contributions tied to the RE/MAX name at about $1.72 million in the 2024 cycle, and it classifies every dollar of that total as individual giving. The PAC column reads $0 in 2024 and in every prior cycle on record, because RE/MAX operates no federal political action committee.[1] The people doing the giving are agents and office staff who list a RE/MAX affiliated brokerage as their employer, spread across hundreds of independently owned franchises. The total is best read as the aggregate preference of a large, decentralized sales force, not as a position set in Denver.
The partisan split has moved over time. Across the last three presidential cycles the Republican share of that money fell from about 65 percent in 2016 to roughly 58 percent in 2020 to about 53 percent in 2024, the closest to even it has been in the OpenSecrets record.[1] The midterm cycles stayed higher, near 54 percent Republican in 2018 and about 64 percent in 2022, so the trend is a narrowing rather than a flip.[1]
RE/MAX reported $0 in federal lobbying in 2024, and OpenSecrets shows no company level lobbying history at all.[1][3] That is not unusual for a residential brokerage brand: the trade group most agents rely on for federal advocacy is the National Association of Realtors, whose political arm operates separately from any single franchisor.
One narrower cut is worth naming. Contributions from people reporting the Denver headquarters entity, which OpenSecrets lists as the "Re/Max International" affiliate, run heavily Republican over the full record, roughly 82 percent to Republicans, a more concentrated signal than the agent aggregate but drawn from a much smaller base of donors.[1]
A Franchisor, Not a Brokerage
RE/MAX Holdings (NYSE: RMAX) does not employ the agents whose yard signs carry its name. It sells franchises. Every office is, in the company's own standard language, independently owned and operated, which is a legal reality and not just a slogan: it is what separates the brand from the politics of any individual office or agent.[4] Alongside the core brokerage franchise, the holding company owns Motto Mortgage, described as the first national mortgage brokerage franchise brand in the United States, and the mortgage technology firm wemlo.[5]
The parent company posted full year 2024 revenue of about $307 million and net income of $7.1 million, a return to profit after a net loss in 2023, even as U.S. agent count and revenue kept sliding in a slow housing market.[5][6] Chief Executive Erik Carlson, who took the job in November 2023 after running DISH Network, has framed the priority as stabilizing that U.S. agent count.[6][7]
The Founder Behind the Balloon
Dave Liniger and Gail Main, who later married, founded RE/MAX in Denver in 1973, coining the name from "real estate" and "maximums."[8] Liniger is a college dropout and a five year Air Force veteran who served during the Vietnam era before building the maximum commission model that pulled experienced agents away from traditional split structures.[8] He is also a serial entrepreneur whose other ventures have ranged from home building and oil exploration to a NASCAR race team, gun shops, and Arabian horse breeding, and a philanthropist whose network made Children's Miracle Network Hospitals its signature cause, raising more than $156 million over the years.[9] Liniger stepped down as CEO in 2018 but remains chairman of the board. Through the family holding company RIHI, he and Gail Liniger control about 38 percent of RE/MAX Holdings voting power as of the end of 2025, the largest single stake though short of a majority.[14]
Unlike the company he built, Liniger has a long and consistent personal political record. Federal contribution records compiled by OpenSecrets show his individual giving running almost entirely to Republican candidates and party committees from 1991 through 2010, with no contributions to Democratic candidates or committees on file.[13] The largest by a wide margin was a $250,000 soft money contribution to a Republican National Committee account in October 2000, in the era before a 2002 federal law barred national party committees from accepting unlimited soft money.[13] He added $25,000 to the Republican National Committee in 2004 and $7,500 to the Colorado Republican Campaign Committee in 2003, on top of a string of candidate checks to Republicans including George W. Bush, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, and Colorado names such as Wayne Allard, Bob Beauprez, and Peter Coors.[13] This is the founder's own money, separate from any corporate political program and predating the decentralized agent giving that defines the brand's federal footprint today.
The Company's Own Words
The clearest political language RE/MAX puts in its own name is about housing access. The company repeatedly states that it supports the Fair Housing Act and equal opportunity housing and describes RE/MAX, LLC as an Equal Opportunity Employer.[4] Beyond fair housing, RE/MAX has largely stayed out of the public culture war positioning that some consumer brands adopt, and no broad corporate stance on hot button social issues is documented in its filings or releases.
The Commission Settlements
RE/MAX was an early mover in the antitrust reckoning that reshaped how Americans pay real estate agents. In September 2023 it agreed to pay $55 million to settle the Sitzer/Burnett and Moehrl class actions, which accused major brokerages and the National Association of Realtors of conspiring to keep commissions inflated, and it agreed to change its practices so sellers are no longer required to pay buyer agent commissions.[10][11] In March 2026 the company agreed to pay $8.5 million to settle the related Batton case, brought by homebuyers rather than sellers, releasing its affiliates and franchisees from that litigation.[12] These are legal and business matters rather than political ones, but they are among the most consequential events in the company's recent history.
Recent News
In April 2026, RE/MAX Holdings agreed to be acquired by The Real Brokerage, a technology focused brokerage listed on the Nasdaq as REAX, in a cash and stock deal that valued RE/MAX Holdings at about $880 million, or $13.80 per share.[15] The combined company would take the name Real REMAX Group and keep the RE/MAX brand and Motto Mortgage, and the two sides said they expect to close in the second half of 2026, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.[15] Dave Liniger, who controls the largest single block of RE/MAX Holdings votes, agreed to vote his shares in favor.[15] The deal is a business transaction rather than a political one, but it is the most consequential event in the company's recent history and would end RE/MAX Holdings' run as an independent public company.
Where to Find Them
RE/MAX operates at remax.com as a global franchisor headquartered in Denver, Colorado, with more than 140,000 agents in over 110 countries and a product line spanning residential brokerage services and Motto Mortgage.[2][5]
Footnotes
[1] OpenSecrets, "Re/Max Realty Profile: Totals," all cycles, accessed August 2, 2026. https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/re-max-realty/totals?id=D000000685&cycle=A
[2] Dave Liniger, "About," accessed August 2, 2026. https://daveliniger.com/about/
[3] OpenSecrets, "Re/Max Realty Profile: Summary," accessed August 2, 2026. https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/re-max-realty/summary?id=D000000685
[4] RE/MAX Holdings, "RE/MAX Holdings, Inc. Names Erik Carlson CEO and Board Member" (company footer language on Equal Opportunity Employer status and Fair Housing Act support), November 13, 2023. https://news.remax.com/press-release/remax-holdings-inc-names-erik-carlson-ceo-and-board-member
[5] RE/MAX Holdings, "RE/MAX Holdings, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter 2024 Results," February 21, 2025. https://news.remax.com/press-release/remax-holdings-inc-reports-fourth-quarter-2024-results
[6] Real Estate News, "RE/MAX looking to strengthen our swagger," February 21, 2025. https://www.realestatenews.com/2025/02/21/re-max-looking-to-strengthen-our-swagger
[7] PRNewswire, "RE/MAX Holdings, Inc. Names Erik Carlson CEO and Board Member," November 13, 2023. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/remax-holdings-inc-names-erik-carlson-ceo-and-board-member-301985632.html
[8] Area 15 Ventures, "Dave Liniger," accessed August 2, 2026. https://area15ventures.com/partners/dave-liniger
[9] LEADERS Magazine, "Interview with Dave Liniger, Chairman and Co-Founder, RE/MAX," 2023. https://www.leadersmag.com/issues/2023.2_Apr/Purpose/LEADERS-Dave-Liniger-REMAX.html
[10] HousingWire, "RE/MAX settles buyer broker commission lawsuits for $55 million," September 18, 2023. https://www.housingwire.com/articles/re-max-settles-buyer-broker-commission-lawsuits-for-55-million/
[11] Real Estate News, "RE/MAX makes $55 million deal to settle commission lawsuits," September 18, 2023. https://www.realestatenews.com/2023/09/18/re-max-makes-usd55-million-deal-to-settle-commission-lawsuits
[12] Real Estate News, "REMAX settles in Batton commissions case," March 25, 2026. https://www.realestatenews.com/2026/03/25/remax-settles-in-batton-commissions-case
[13] OpenSecrets, "Donor Lookup: Dave Liniger," accessed August 3, 2026. https://www.opensecrets.org/donor-lookup/results?name=liniger+dave
[14] RE/MAX Holdings, Inc., Form 10-K for fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 (voting power of RIHI and David Liniger), accessed August 3, 2026. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1581091/000110465926017561/rmax-20251231x10k.htm
[15] The Real Brokerage Inc. and RE/MAX Holdings, Inc., "Real to Acquire RE/MAX, Creating a Leading Technology-Enabled Global Real Estate Platform," April 27, 2026. https://news.remax.com/real-to-acquire-remax-creating-a-leading-technology-enabled-global-real-estate-platform
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