Hegar is part of a growing group of Senate candidates rejecting corporate PAC money
Washington, DC –– Today, End Citizens United (ECU) endorsed MJ Hegar for U.S. Senate. Hegar, who has been an outspoken critic against the influence of big money in politics, is highlighting her commitment to reform by rejecting corporate PAC money.
“MJ Hegar knows that when politicians work for corporate special interests, the needs of Texas families are ignored,” said End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller. “By rejecting corporate PAC money, MJ is proving to Texans that she’ll step up and be the leader that Senator Cornyn isn’t––a leader who will buck the Washington establishment and fight for those with pre-existing health conditions and lower the cost of healthcare and prescription drugs. End Citizens United is proud to back MJ Hegar, and we look forward to connecting our grassroots members with her campaign.”
“The system is rigged against Texans, because career politicians like Senator Cornyn care more about helping their corporate and special interest donors than standing up for us and fighting for Texans’ access to quality and affordable health care,” said MJ Hegar. “I experienced the corrosive impact of big money in politics firsthand when I fought for the repeal of the Ground Combat Exclusion Policy and one of my representatives wouldn’t meet with me because I wasn’t a big campaign donor. I’m not taking a dime of corporate PAC money to flip this seat because we’re running a grassroots campaign fueled by regular, hard working people. I’ll always put Texans first in the Senate, and I look forward to working with End Citizens United to fight for campaign finance reform and bring more accountability and transparency into our government.”
Hegar joins a growing field of 2020 Senate candidates rejecting corporate PAC money, including Mark Kelly (AZ-SEN), Alice Madden (CO-SEN), Andrew Romanoff (CO-SEN), Dan Baer (CO-SEN), John Walsh (CO-SEN), Mike Johnston (CO-SEN), Trish Zornio (CO-SEN), Kimberly Graham (IA-SEN), Ben Ray Luján (NM-SEN), Maggie Tolouse Oliver (NM-SEN), Sen. Jeff Merkley (OR-SEN) and James Mackler (TN-SEN).
The early endorsement will allow ECU to connect Hegar’s campaign with its 530,000 grassroots donors to help ensure she has the resources to win. In Beto O’Rourke’s Senate bid last cycle, ECU’s members made 30,800 contributions, totalling $418,000 directly for O’Rourke’s campaign, with an average contribution of $13.50. ECU also invested $250,000 in a get out the vote program in Texas to turn out low propensity voters.
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 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, including 36 members of the House freshman class. The reform group has four million members nationwide, including more than 153,000 in Texas, and is entirely grassroots-funded with an average donation of just $14.
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