Press Releases

End Citizens United Endorses Cal Cunningham for U.S. Senate

Jul 30, 2019

Washington, D.C.End Citizens United (ECU) today endorsed Cal Cunningham for U.S. Senate in North Carolina. Cunningham, who has advocated for campaign finance reform since his time in North Carolina’s State Senate, is highlighting his commitment to reform by refusing corporate PAC money.

“Cal Cunningham has spent his career standing up for North Carolinians who are being left behind by the corrupt establishment in Washington,” said End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller. “He is running a grassroots campaign and rejecting corporate PAC money. Unlike Senator Thom Tillis, Cal won’t be Mitch McConnell’s lackey and can’t be bought and paid for by special interests. Cal is running a campaign focused on North Carolina families. ECU is proud to endorse Cal Cunningham, and we look forward to helping him win in 2020.” 

“Senator Tillis is a part of the corrupt system in Washington where politicians under the influence of special interests don’t do what’s right for their constituents, and in North Carolina, we deserve better,” said Cal Cunningham. “Families struggling to afford their prescription drugs, working moms and dads frustrated that their wages can’t keep up with the costs of putting food on the table or paying the mortgage––these are the folks who need Congress to act. As long as politicians are in the pocket of Big Pharma, North Carolinians will keep paying the price. That’s why I will never take a dime of corporate PAC money and will only fight for North Carolina families, not big corporations.” 

Cunningham joins a growing field of 2020 Senate candidates rejecting corporate PAC money, including ECU-endorsed candidates Mark Kelly (AZ-SEN), Theresa Greenfield (IA-SEN), Sarah Gideon (ME-SEN), Ben Ray Luján (NM-SEN), Sen. Jeff Merkley (OR-SEN) and MJ Hegar (TX-SEN).

During the 2018 election cycle, ECU spearheaded the movement among candidates to forgo corporate PAC money in their campaigns. Fifty-eight members of the 116th Congress are refusing to take corporate PAC money, which includes 27 members of the House freshman class who flipped their district. 

ECU is dedicated to getting Big Money out of politics and fixing the rigged system in Washington so government works for all Americans. The reform group has four million members nationwide, including 91,500 in North Carolina, and is entirely grassroots-funded with an average donation of just $14. The early endorsement will allow ECU to connect its over 550,000 donors members with Cunningham’s campaign to make sure he has the resources to win. 

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