Sen. Gardner has taken nearly $3 million from corporate PACs and advanced their interests in the Senate
In the Colorado Senate race, where Senator Cory Gardner is expected to face the toughest campaign of his career, at least five Senate challenger candidates are highlighting their commitment to reform by refusing to take corporate PAC money.
Coloradans want a leader to fight for them––not special interests––and the movement to forgo corporate PAC money spells trouble for Senator Gardner, who has relied on corporate special interests to prop up his campaigns. Over his career, Gardner has taken nearly $3 million from corporate PACs and voted to advance their interests in the Senate. And when he served as Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), Gardner doubled down on passing legislation that would hurt Coloradans but please his big donors. As reported by the New York Times, “…Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado painted a dire picture for his colleagues. Campaign fund-raising was drying up, he said, because of widespread disappointment among donors over the inability of the Republican Senate to repeal the Affordable Care Act…”
Below is a compilation of public statements highlighting the Colorado Senate challengers’ commitment to rejecting corporate PAC money:
Dan Baer:
“I’m making a pledge at the outset that I will take zero corporate PAC money. And I’m going a step further than that, actually, and pledging that I will never be a federal lobbyist because I think the revolving door where people go to Washington, they spend a few years in Congress or the Senate and then they become millionaires representing corporations who have rule-making in front of those bodies––that’s got to stop.”
Mike Johnston:
“Cory Gardner raised $2 million this past quarter. You want to know how? By taking over $690K from PACs like Koch Industries PAC and Haliburton Co. PAC. How much did I take from PACs? Zero. Unlike Cory, I’ve never taken a single dollar from a PAC and I never will.”
…
“You want to get corruption out of politics? You’ve got to start by getting PACs out of politics. That means electing Senators who refuse to take them.”
Andrew Romanoff:
“If we’re serious about winning these fights, we need to change the way we finance campaigns. I’ll lead by example—just as I did a decade ago—by turning down contributions from political action committees.”
John Walsh:
“Let me be clear: I won’t be accepting corporate PAC money in my campaign for #COSen, because all Coloradans should know I am in this for them, not to represent special interests. My opponent can’t say the same.”
Trish Zorino:
“We did it! Thanks to you we not only met our fundraising goal, we passed it! This is what #grassroots campaigns can do! No PACs. No billionaires. Just regular people like you & me working to get our democracy back. Thank you!”
The movement to forgo corporate PAC money was a winning issue in some of the most competitive races during the 2018 election cycle, especially in Colorado’s 6th Congressional District. Then-candidate Jason Crow made ending the influence of big money in politics a top issue in his campaign and was one of the first House challengers to reject corporate PAC money. Crow used his pledge to draw a clear contrast between himself and his opponent, who had taken over $1.6 million from corporate PACs. ECU polling in CO-06 found that a majority of voters were more likely to support a candidate who will not accept money from corporate special interests and that an overwhelming majority of voters believed special interest money in elections is a major problem. Congressman Crow is the first federally elected candidate from Colorado to refuse corporate PAC money.
During the 2018 election cycle, ECU led the movement among candidates to reject corporate PAC money in their campaigns. Fifty-five members of the 116th Congress are refusing to take corporate PAC money, including 36 freshmen members. The No Corporate PAC Pledge elevated the issue of money-in-politics as a top priority in the 2018 election and helped create the momentum to make a comprehensive reform bill the very first bill the new Democratic House took up as H.R. 1.
# # #