By: Simone Pathe
Three Democratic senators from states carried by President Donald Trump last fall have earned the backing of an influential liberal political action committee.
End Citizens United announced its support Thursday for the re-election campaigns of Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Jon Tester of Montana, in its first endorsements of the 2018 cycle.
“All three have seen first-hand how super PACs and dark money groups have attempted to buy a Senate seat but each time, they’ve won because of their grass-roots support and proven record fighting for the middle class,” Tiffany Muller, the group’s executive director, said in a statement.
Founded in 2015, End Citizens United backs Democratic candidates who support a campaign finance overhaul, specifically the passing a constitutional amendment to overturn the 2010 Supreme Court decision after which the group is named. The PAC spent more than $15 million on House and Senate races in the 2016 cycle, helping elect 15 new members.
The group is making these 2018 endorsements early in the cycle to allow the senators to connect with its 160,000 members in the three states and 330,000 donors across the country. Those same donors have already helped boost Democrat Jon Ossoff in Georgia’s 6th District. Members of the PAC have raised $700,000 for the 30-year-old first-time candidate and the group released a digital ad backing him, too.
End Citizens United says it plans to raise $35 million for the 2018 cycle — $10 million more than it raised for the 2016 elections. It raised $4 million during the first quarter of 2017.