The candidate for MI-08 pledges to not take a dime of corporate PAC money while her opponent Representative Mike Bishop has accepted over $1.4 million from corporate PACs
In a major campaign announcement today, Elissa Slotkin declared that she will not accept corporate PAC donations in her bid for Congress. Slotkin, who End Citizens United (ECU) endorsed in November for Michigan’s eighth Congressional district, is making the issue of money in politics a key component of her campaign. She is running against incumbent Congressman Mike Bishop, who was recently named to ECU’s Big Money 20 target list for the 2018 midterms.
“Elissa Slotkin is demonstrating a clear commitment to unrigging the system that’s leaving too many Michigan families behind,” said ECU President Tiffany Muller. “Her decision to take the No Corporate PAC pledge instills trust and confidence in voters that she’s running to represent them. While Elissa is running a campaign that’s focusing on people in her district, her opponent, Congressman Bishop is beholden to deep-pocketed corporate special interests.”
“Our campaign finance system is broken — and voters know it in their bones. We have seen how the vast sums of money in our elections have given corporations undue influence over Congress, putting the interests of powerful insiders and corporations ahead of constituents. That’s why I will not be accepting corporate PAC donations in my bid for Congress. Despite our campaign finance laws it is possible to run a clean, transparent campaign — and that’s what we intend to do,” said Slotkin.
A recent study shows that Americans’ faith in the government is at an all time low, with over 90% believing the government is working for the benefit of a few special interests. A robust reform agenda is critical to winning support from voters. A recent ECU poll found that 62% of voters believe that a candidate who refuses to accept corporate PAC money is a sign that the candidate is serious about reform. A money in politics reform platform has also been proven to help win voters, particularly independents and unaffiliated voters.
While Slotkin has pledged to not accept a dime of corporate PAC money, Congressman Bishop is the poster child of corporate special interest influence in Congress. Over the course of his career, Bishop has received $900,000 from corporate PACs, which constitutes 75% of his overall career PAC contributions. Bishop voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act despite the fact that 38,000 people in his district stood to lose their health insurance as a result of the repeal. His vote came on the heels of nearly $800,000 in outside support from secret money group American Action Network for his re-election, a group pushing for repeal.
Congressman Bishop also voted for the GOP’s tax bill, the top priority for corporations and Republican mega-donors. The tax bill slashes the corporate tax rate down to 21%. Families making less than $100,000 will see an increase in taxes while the top one percent of earners will receive almost all of the tax giveaways by 2027.
End Citizens United is a grassroots-funded organization dedicated to electing members of Congress, like Elissa Slotkin, who will fight to unrig the system so that Congress focuses on all of us, not just their big-money special interest donors. End Citizens United is projected to raise $35 million dollars in the 2018 cycle. ECU will connect Slotkin’s campaign with its 5,600 members in Michigan’s 8th Congressional district and activate its 380,000 small-dollar donors to help ensure she has the resources to win.
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