Press Releases

End Citizens United Endorses Kathy Manning in NC-13

Mar 01, 2018

Manning joins growing list of ECU-endorsed candidates who refuse corporate PAC money

End Citizens United (ECU) today endorsed Kathy Manning in North Carolina’s 13th Congressional District. Manning is rejecting all corporate PAC money in her campaign for Congress. Her 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, Kathy is taking bold steps to address the problem before she even gets to Congress. She’s showing voters that she’s listening. ECU is proud to endorse her campaign and will work to help elect her to Congress.”

“I’m proud to be endorsed by End Citizens United. Our political system is broken because special interests wield too much influence over our democracy. But we don’t have to stand for it. I am committed to campaign finance reform, including fighting to overturn Citizens United, to ensure people are the priority, not corporations,” said Kathy Manning.

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. ECU has identified over 70 candidates to date who are making similar commitments to reject 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 Manning compete with high-spending special interest groups by connecting her with its more than 3,100 grassroots members in NC-13, 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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