Press Releases

End Citizens United Endorses Four U.S. Senators for Reelection

Aug 27, 2019

Jones, Peters, Shaheen and Smith are all original co-sponsors of the For the People Act (S. 949)

Washington, DC –– End Citizens United (ECU) today endorsed Senator Doug Jones (D-AL), Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), Senator Tina Smith (D-MN), and Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) for reelection. All four Senators have strong records of rooting out government corruption and strengthening our democracy, including co-sponsoring a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and co-sponsoring the For the People Act (S. 949).

“Mitch McConnell runs the Senate so that it serves special interests instead of the American people,” said End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller. “While Mitch McConnell prides himself on doing the bidding of big money donors, Senators Jones, Peters, Shaheen and Smith have fought to pass critical anti-corruption, transparency and government reform legislation. End Citizens United is proud to endorse these four leaders, and we look forward to supporting their campaigns to ensure that they’re re-elected to the Senate.”

“The outsized influence of big money in politics is drowning out the voices of everyday Alabamians,” said Senator Jones. “The only way to get back to putting people ahead of special interests is to root out corruption by making Washington accountable to voters, not the biggest donors. End Citizens United is endorsing me because I’m fighting to fix a system that does not serve the people and has eroded trust in our democracy.”

“The Supreme Court’s disastrous decision in Citizens United opened the floodgates for dark money to pour into our elections. In 2014, out-of-state billionaires spent millions in false, negative ads against me in their failed effort to buy Michigan’s Senate seat. That election only reaffirmed how important it is to me to speak out against the endless, undisclosed money that is influencing our elections –– and support efforts to reform our campaign finance system and improve disclosures and transparency. I’m grateful to have End Citizens United’s support in this campaign,” said Senator Peters.

“Our democracy is about the power of the people –– not dark money,” said Senator Smith. “I’m proud to have the support of End Citizens United. Our elections should be decided by who has the best ideas and who can organize people behind them, not by powerful special interests and who can write the biggest checks. I will continue to fight every day in the Senate to reverse the disastrous Citizens United decision and reform this broken system. Minnesota families deserve a Congress that puts people first, not special interests.”

“Ever since the Supreme Court’s devastating Citizens United decision, our elections and the voices of the American people have faced a deluge of money from special interests. Dark money and the growing influence of outside special interest groups put our entire democracy at risk. That is why I’ve been leading the effort, alongside End Citizens United, to overturn this disastrous decision and return integrity back to our campaigns and strengthen our political system. Wealthy corporate interests, foreign adversaries, and dark money influence should not have the same rights and access to our electoral campaigns as American citizens. It’s time to get big money out of politics,” said Senator Shaheen.

A new NBC/WSJ poll shows that 70 percent of Americans are dissatisfied with the political establishment in Washington “because our political system seems to only be working for the insiders with money and power, like those on Wall Street or in Washington.” Jones, Peters, Smith and Shaheen are working to root out government corruption and make our political system work for everyone.

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 these four campaigns to make sure they have the resources to win.

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