Bullock is rejecting corporate PAC money; Senator Steve Daines has taken over $2.6 million in corporate PAC donations
As Attorney General and Governor of Montana, Bullock has successfully fought against the corrupting influence of Big Money in politics
End Citizens United (ECU) today endorsed Governor Steve Bullock for U.S. Senate in Montana. Bullock, who has dedicated his career to fighting for comprehensive campaign finance reform, is rejecting corporate PAC money.
“Governor Steve Bullock embodies Montana’s proud tradition of supporting good government and clean elections,” said End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller. “As Montana’s Attorney General and as Governor, Steve has successfully fought against corruption, worked to overturn Citizens United, and proposed pragmatic measures to ensure that Montanan’s voices are heard. By rejecting corporate PAC money in his Senate campaign, Steve is proving that he’ll fight for Montana families and against Mitch McConnell’s corrupt majority. End Citizens United is proud to endorse Governor Bullock, and we look forward to helping him win.”
Governor Steve Bullock’s record of rooting out the corrosive, corrupting influence of unlimited and undisclosed money in politics speaks for itself. In June 2018, Bullock signed an executive order that required state government contractors to disclose dark money spending in elections. Bullock also won his lawsuit in federal court challenging the Trump Administration’s decision to no longer require politically active nonprofits to identify their major donors to the government. In 2015, Bullock worked with Republicans in the Montana Legislature to pass a bipartisan campaign finance reform bill that required all groups that spent money on elections to disclose their donors. In 2012, as Montana Attorney General, Bullock defended the state’s ban on corporate campaign spending against a challenge that went all the way to the Supreme Court. Bullock also urged the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the Corrupt Practices Act, which was Montana’s century-old ban on corporate spending in political races.
Bullock is challenging Republican Senator Steve Daines, who has taken over $2.6 million from corporate PACs over the course of his career. In the Senate, Daines has sided time and again with his corporate donors, including voting for the disastrous GOP tax bill which gave the top ten Big Pharma companies a $76 billion tax cut.
In recent election cycles, ECU has been active and engaged in Montana. During the 2018 election cycle, ECU made the Montana Senate race a priority and endorsed Senator Jon Tester as part of its first round of endorsements. The group had a nearly $2.5 million impact on the Montana Senate race through paid communications and grassroots donations. ECU’s grassroots members made 22,600 contributions, totaling $180,000, directly for Tester’s campaign, with an average contribution of $8.
End Citizens United and Let America Vote (LAV) recently merged to combat the two biggest challenges facing our democracy: Big Money and voter suppression. ECU is dedicated to getting Big Money out of politics and fixing the rigged system in Washington so that the government works for all Americans. LAV is building a grassroots effort to fight back against voter suppression and protect every American’s right to vote. ECU has more than four million members nationwide, including 14,000 in Montana, and is entirely grassroots-funded with an average donation of just $14.
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