As voters head to the polls today in Colorado, Maryland and New York, End Citizens United (ECU) highlighted its endorsed candidates and their commitment to unrigging the system and getting Big Money out of politics.
COLORADO:
Jason Crow (CO-06):
A champion of reform, Jason Crow was one of the first challengers this election cycle to reject corporate PAC money. Crow, who is running to unseat Congressman Mike Coffman, is making reform a key part of his campaign and has pledged to refuse corporate PAC money.
In March, ECU President Tiffany Muller traveled to CO-06 where she stumped for Crow as he unveiled his Washington Reform Agenda, a series of legislative proposals to unrig the system in Washington. The trip came on the heels of an ECU poll which showed Crow leading Coffman by five points, 44 to 39 percent. In the poll, after voters learned of Crow’s commitment to reject corporate PAC money, his lead over Coffman grew to ten points. In addition to laying out legislative proposals, Crow challenged Coffman to join him and disavow dark money in their campaign. Coffman has not agreed to the pledge.
In December, ECU named Congressman Coffman to its Big Money 20 target list for the 2018 midterms. The members of the Big Money 20 are incumbents who do the bidding of special interests while also voting to protect the rigged system. Coffman supported the tax bill that hurt Colorado families but gave massive tax breaks to his big donors. His support came after taking over $400,000 from Wall Street and benefiting from over $2.6 million in political spending from special interests pushing for the bill.
As part of the Big Money 20 campaign, ECU made a six-figure issue ad buy in January targeting Coffman for his vote on the tax bill. You can view the ad here.
Joe Neguse (CO-02):
An advocate for disclosure and transparency, Joe Neguse is running for Congress to fight for real campaign finance reform. Neguse supports the Keeping Our Campaigns Honest (KOCH) Act, which would require the FCC to demand outside political groups to disclose the names of their major donors who fund political ads. Neguse is not accepting money from the Big Oil and Gas industry.
MARYLAND:
Aruna Miller (MD-06):
A staunch advocate for accountability and transparency, Aruna Miller is rejecting corporate PAC money in her grassroots campaign. In addition to her commitment, Miller supports bills aimed at curbing the influence of Big Money, such as the DISCLOSE Act, which would stop mega-donors from hiding their political spending.
NEW YORK:
Max Rose (NY-11):
Max Rose is a Purple Heart recipient who is running for Congress to serve the families in NY-11. He is a committed reformer who supports legislation that would rein in the role of Big Money in politics. As part of his commitment, Rose is not taking a dime of corporate PAC money so New Yorkers know that he’s representing them, not the corporate special interests.
Earlier this month, ECU President Tiffany Muller traveled to NY-11, where she held a roundtable discussion with Rose about unrigging the system in Washington. Watch Muller’s and Rose’s Facebook Live following the roundtable here.
Anthony Brindisi (NY-22):
Concerned by the flood of unlimited, untraceable money in politics, Anthony Brindisi is running for Congress to reform the broken campaign finance system. Along with his commitment to reform, Brindisi is rejecting corporate PAC money to prove to families in NY-22 that he’s accountable to them and no one else.
While Brindisi is rejecting corporate PAC money, his opponent, Congresswoman Claudia Tenney, is one of Washington’s worst pay-to-play politicians. Tenney, a member of ECU’s Big Money 20, once campaigned against the “special carve-outs and deals” that Congress gives to corporate special interests, but once elected, she began serving on the House Financial Services Committee, and saw her contributions from Wall Street and the banking industry skyrocket. Since her election, Tenney took over $150,000 from the financial sector. Tenney voted for the Financial CHOICE Act, which stripped away key powers from the agency responsible for protecting everyday Americans against the Big Bank’s predatory financial practices.