Washington, DC – End Citizens United (ECU) today announced its first round of endorsements for the 2020 election cycle. The endorsements include 26 newly-elected Democratic members of the House of Representatives, who ran on a platform of reform in the 2018 cycle, won competitive races in swing districts, and showed leadership in the passage of the For the People Act (H.R.1).
All of the newly-endorsed candidates were endorsed by ECU in the 2018 cycle as challengers and benefited from over $9 million in grassroots fundraising and spending. This group of candidates face competitive re-elections and have pledged to voters that they will not take corporate PAC money. ECU is committed to ensuring these candidates have the resources to win, and will raise and spend a combined $10 million in small-dollar, grassroots donations to re-elect these leaders of reform.
“These reformers are already changing the way Washington works. They’re committed to unrigging the political system and making government responsive to the people — not corporate donors with big checks,” said ECU President Tiffany Muller. “Even though they’ve only been in office for a few months, they’re already delivering on promises by passing the most comprehensive anti-corruption and reform legislation in a generation. Their commitment to reform and the families in their districts will make them a top target of mega-donors and special interests hell-bent on protecting the status quo in Washington, but we have their backs. ECU is proud to endorse these reformers and we’re committed to ensuring they’re re-elected.”
The full list of endorsed candidates includes: Josh Harder (CA-10), TJ Cox (CA-21), Katie Hill (CA-25), Gil Cisneros (CA-39), Katie Porter (CA-45), Harley Rouda (CA-48), Mike Levin (CA-49), Jason Crow (CO-06), Lucy McBath (GA-06), Cindy Axne (IA-03), Jared Golden (ME-02), Elissa Slotkin (MI-08), Dean Phillips (MN-03), Chris Pappas (NH-01), Andy Kim (NJ-03), Tom Malinowski (NJ-07), Xochitl Torres Small (NM-02), Max Rose (NY-11), Antonio Delgado (NY-19), Kendra Horn (OK-05), Susan Wild (PA-07), Conor Lamb (PA-17), Joe Cunningham (SC-01), Colin Allred (TX-32), Abigail Spanberger (VA-07), Kim Schrier (WA-08).
The early endorsement will allow ECU to connect its 530,000 grassroots donors with the campaigns to help ensure they have the resources to win. ECU raised and spent $44 million in the 2018 election cycle. Its $14.2 million independent expenditure made it the fifth largest issue group spending on the Democratic side, and the only one to be entirely grassroots-funded of the top five spenders. ECU’s members raised $9 million directly for endorsed candidates and state ballot measures. The group also donated nearly $2 million directly to its endorsed campaigns.
ECU is dedicated to getting Big Money out of politics and fixing the rigged system in Washington so it works for all Americans. The group played a pivotal role in helping to pass the For the People Act, a once-in-a-generation anti-corruption and reform bill. ECU also led the movement among candidates to forgo corporate PAC money in their campaigns. Fifty-three members of the 116th Congress are refusing to take corporate PAC money, including 36 new members. The reform group has four million members nationwide and is entirely grassroots-funded with an average donation of just $14.
# # #