For Immediate Release
Thursday, December 8, 2016
Contact: Adam Bozzi, [email protected]
ECU Action Network will mobilize grassroots support to fight for reform of our campaign finance system
The multifaceted effort will activate ECU’s members and hold Congress and the Trump Administration accountable
End Citizens United (ECU) today launched a new advocacy program that will intensify the fight to reform our campaign finance system and overturn the Supreme Court’s misguided Citizens United decision. End Citizens United Action Network will mobilize the collective strength of ECU’s 3 million members to push Congress and the Trump Administration to support critical reforms and oppose efforts to further weaken our campaign finance laws.
“We have an active and enthusiastic membership that has proved it is ready to take action,” said Tiffany Muller, Executive Director at ECU. “In 2016, we demonstrated that the grassroots can stand up to the special interests who have rigged the system. Now, with Republican control of government threatening to flood the swamp, ECU members in every state are eager to wrestle the power in our democracy away from a small band of billionaires and return it to the American people.”
The Action Network, coordinated by ECU’s new advocacy department, is a multifaceted effort combining paid communications, earned media, and grassroots organizing. It will pressure the administration and Congress to support reforms to stop the flow of secret money and increase transparency in our elections, as well as urging them to block measures that would weaken our campaign finance system, such as eliminating contribution limits and preventing federal agencies from investigating violations. The Action Network will also fight for nominees to the Supreme Court who understand the damage that decisions such as Citizens United have caused to our democracy.
ECU’s active grassroots members are dedicated to ending the proliferation of “dark money” and unlimited spending in our democracy, and they showed they could make an impact in the 2016 election cycle. ECU raised $24 million from more than 270,000 donors who gave an average contribution of $14 to support champions of campaign finance reform, such as Senators-elect Catherine Cortez Masto and Maggie Hassan.
This passionate support from its members made ECU one of the most significant progressive voices in the election cycle. The group was one of the Top 3 biggest spenders in the competitive Senate races. As ECU prepares for the 115th Congress and the new Trump Administration, it will shift the focus of that passion from elections to advocacy, with the same goal of effecting change.
End Citizens United, a grassroots-funded political action committee (PAC), was established in March 2015 to counter the disastrous effects of Citizens United and reform our campaign finance system. To date, more than 3 million grassroots members from every state and territory have taken action to support End Citizens United.
People that want to join the ECU Action Network can sign up HERE.