By Talia Marcus
SLEEPY HOLLOW, NY — End Citizens United today endorsed NY-17 Democratic Congressional Candidate Mondaire Jones, highlighting his commitment to people over special interests and dedication to campaign finance reform in its endorsement.
“Mondaire Jones began his work to fight for true campaign finance reform as a member of the Office of Legal Policy at the Department of Justice when Citizens United was decided in 2010,” said ECU and LAV President Tiffany Muller. “Now, in his campaign for Congress, Jones is continuing that fight by rejecting corporate PAC money and proving to New Yorkers that he’ll be accountable to them, not corporate special interests. We’re proud to endorse Mondaire Jones, and we look forward to helping him win.”
“Throughout my life, I’ve experienced firsthand how our broken campaign finance system excludes people of color, working families, and young people from equally participating in our democracy,” said NY-17 Democratic Congressional Candidate Mondaire Jones. “I’m running for Congress to champion the critical fight to expand our democracy through comprehensive campaign finance reform and protecting the right to vote. I’m proud to have End Citizens United and Let America Vote’s support, and I look forward to working alongside them to make our government work better for New Yorkers.”
Mondaire Jones has also been endorsed by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sec. Julián Castro, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Senator Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Rep. Ro Khanna, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Rep. Barbara Lee, Rep. Deb Haaland, Rep. Mark Pocan, Rep. David Cicilline, the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, Equality PAC, NY Working Families Party, United Auto Workers, Hispanic Democrats of Westchester, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Democracy for America, The LGBT Victory Fund, The Collective PAC, and more than 40 elected officials and community leaders in Rockland and Westchester Counties. He recently announced that his campaign had raised over $827,000 by the end of the first quarter of 2020. Unlike many of his opponents, Jones is not accepting corporate PAC money in his campaign and has also signed the No Fossil Fuel Pledge. When elected, Mondaire will make U.S. history as the first openly gay, black member of Congress.
About Mondaire: Mondaire Jones is a 33-year-old former litigator in the Westchester County Law Department and former Department of Justice staffer during the Obama Administration. A resident of South Nyack, he is running to represent New York’s 17th Congressional District. A product of East Ramapo public schools, Mondaire was raised in Section 8 housing and on food stamps in the Village of Spring Valley by a single mother who worked multiple jobs to provide for their family. He later graduated from Stanford University and Harvard Law School. He is a co-founder of the nonprofit Rising Leaders, Inc. and has previously served on the NAACP’s National Board of Directors and on the board of the New York Civil Liberties Union. Mondaire is a progressive running to fight for bold solutions to our biggest problems: a Green New Deal, tuition-free public college and student debt forgiveness, Medicare for All, and a full restoration of the SALT deduction for families in Westchester and Rockland.