Trauner joins growing list of ECU-endorsed candidates who refuse corporate PAC money
End Citizens United (ECU) today endorsed Gary Trauner for U.S. Senate in Wyoming. Trauner is rejecting all corporate PAC money in his campaign for Congress. His commitment is part of a growing trend – as an unprecedented number of candidates are rejecting corporate PAC money. ECU is leading efforts to encourage candidates to refuse corporate special interest money.
“Voters are fed up with the way Washington does business, and they’re demanding reform,” said ECU President Tiffany Muller. “By rejecting corporate PAC money, Gary is taking bold steps to address the problem before he even gets to the Senate. He’s showing voters that he’s listening. ECU is proud to endorse his campaign.”
“From the first day of my first foray into federal politics 12 years ago, even before the Supreme Court handed down its boneheaded Citizens United decision, I’ve been a staunch opponent of corporate influence in our electoral system. Corporations have an extremely narrow focus and can’t vote, so they shouldn’t be able to use their money to impact elections. As I said in my recent announcement video, “corporate PACs are not giving politicians money for their striking good looks. They want something.” It’s a system of legalized bribery and influence peddling, and it has to stop. I’m honored to be recognized and endorsed by End Citizens United for my long-standing opposition to big money in politics. Together, we can give regular people their political voice back – where our Founding Fathers knew it truly belongs,” said Trauner.
The decision to refuse corporate PAC contributions is a growing trend among 2018 candidates, including Democrats such as Beto O’Rourke (TX-Senate), Jason Crow (CO-06), Andy Kim (NJ-03) and Elissa Slotkin (MI-08). Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Cory Booker also recently announced they would turn away corporate PAC money. To date, ECU has identified over 70 candidates who are making a similar commitment to rejecting corporate PAC money.
ECU polling has found that 62% of voters believe that a candidate refusing corporate PAC money is a sign that the candidate is serious about reform. A recent Gallup poll shows that Americans’ faith in the government is at an all-time low, with over 90% believing the government is working for the benefit of a few special interests. A robust reform agenda is critical to winning support from voters, particularly independents.
ECU’s endorsement will help Trauner compete with high-spending special interest groups by connecting him with its 4,600 grassroots members in Wyoming, as well as its national network of 400,000 small-dollar donors. With an average donation of $14, ECU is projected to raise $35 million for the 2018 election cycle.
ECU is an entirely grassroots-funded organization dedicated to electing members of Congress who will fight to get Big Money out of politics so Congress focuses on all of us and not only its biggest special interest donors.
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