Washington, DC –– End Citizens United (ECU) today named Rep. George Holding (NC-02) to the Big Money 20, the group’s top targets to defeat in 2020. ECU’s Big Money 20 campaign is focused on defeating incumbents who benefit most from the corrupt establishment in Washington by showing voters how politicians like Rep. Holding put corporate special interest donors ahead of the people they’re supposed to represent.
“George Holding said he would go up to Washington and stand up to special interests, but he lied, broke his promise, and has become just another cog in the dark, special interest, money machine,” said End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller. “Holding was one of the first congressional candidates to ever have a personal super PAC help buy his seat in Congress, which is why he ignores the needs of his constituents. Meanwhile, Holding has voted to raise the cost of healthcare and ignored the needs of North Carolina families. George Holding embodies everything that is wrong with our broken political system, and End Citizens United and our members will work to defeat him in 2020.”
The Big Money 20 aims to educate voters about incumbents who represent the worst of Washington and rally support for reforming the political system. The members of the Big Money 20 are incumbents who take money from corporate special interests, mega-donors, and industries like Big Pharma and Big Oil and then put those interests ahead of their constituents.
In his 2012 campaign, Holding promised he would not take special interest money. Three months later, he broke this promise and accepted a corporate PAC contribution. George Holding has accepted over $2 million from them ever since. Holding thanked these donors by voting for the GOP tax bill that cut taxes for corporations from 35% to 21%, including for corporations and industries that backed Holding’s campaigns like big banks, telecom, and the insurance industry. He also rewarded the pharmaceutical industry, which has given him $180,000, by voting for the disastrous American Health Care Act (AHCA), which would gut protections for people with preexisting conditions and would have given a $28 billion tax break to the pharmaceutical industry.
In the 2018 cycle, End Citizens United helped defeat 82% of the Big Money 20 targets. ECU will connect its more than 550,000 members to endorsed candidates who are challenging Big Money 20 targets.
ECU has conducted extensive polling and research showing that voters across the political spectrum support getting big money out of politics. ECU is a traditional political action committee (PAC) with more than four million members, including 5,000 in North Carolina’s 2nd Congressional District. ECU raised $44 million in the 2018 last cycle and helped elect over 150 members to the 116th Congress, including two new U.S. Senators and 58 new U.S. Representatives. The reform group is entirely grassroots-funded with an average donation of just $14.
For a full list and additional background on the Big Money 20, click here.