All three reformers are rejecting corporate PAC money
Washington, DC –– End Citizens United (ECU) endorsed Gina Ortiz Jones (TX-23), Ammar Campa-Najjar (CA-50) and Betsy Dirksen Londrigan (IL-13) for Congress as part of its first House challenger endorsements for 2020. All three reformers are rejecting corporate PAC money. In 2018, Jones, Campa-Najjar and Dirksen Londrigan came within close margins of unseating their opponents with an average of 1.57 percent.
“The 2018 midterms ushered in a new class of House freshmen who made reform a central theme in their campaigns and made it a priority after getting elected,” said End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller. “In 2020, we need to elect leaders who will be campaign finance reform champions, and Gina Ortiz Jones, Ammar Campa-Najjar and Betsy Dirksen Londrigan will do just that. Mitch McConnell is blocking comprehensive reform legislation to appease his mega-donors and ignoring what the American voters want. By rejecting corporate PAC money, these candidates are showing their neighbors that they’ll fight for the people in Washington, not corporate special interests. End Citizens United is proud to endorse Jones, Campa-Najjar and Dirksen Londrigan, and we look forward to helping them win with this early endorsement.”
While Gina Ortiz Jones, Ammar Campa-Najjar and Betsy Dirksen Londrigan reject corporate PAC money, their opponents have raked in millions to help keep them in Congress. Throughout their careers, Congressman Hurd (TX-23) has taken $1.7 million dollars from corporate PACs, including telecom industry and Wall Street PACs; Congressman Davis (IL-13) has taken $2.4 million from corporate PACs including Big Pharma PACs; and Congressman Hunter (CA-50) has taken $1.7 million from corporate PACs and was recently indicted for transferring campaign funds for personal use. All three voted against the most sweeping anti-corruption reform legislation passed since Watergate, the For the People Act.
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 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 with the three candidates’ campaigns to make sure they have the resources to win.
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