Public interest attorney Porter is rejecting all corporate PAC money
Walters was named to ECU’s Big Money 20 list for selling out constituents, succumbing to pressure from mega-donors
End Citizens United (ECU) today endorsed Katie Porter in California’s 45th Congressional district. A public interest attorney and Wall Street watchdog, Porter is refusing all corporate PAC money in her bid for Congress. She is running against incumbent Congresswoman Mimi Walters, who was recently named to ECU’s Big Money 20 list for selling out her constituents in favor of donors.
“Katie’s decision to reject all corporate PAC money demonstrates her commitment to families in the district. Corporate special interests are drowning out their voices, but with this decision, Katie is instilling trust and confidence in voters that they will be heard in Congress,” said ECU President Tiffany Muller. “Meanwhile, her opponent, Congresswoman Walters, continues to stack the deck in favor of the special interests who fill her campaign coffers. We look forward to working with Katie’s grassroots-powered campaign to help elect her to Congress.”
“Special interests like large financial institutions now have the ability to spend unlimited money, giving them an outsized and unfair role in our election system,” said Katie Porter, candidate for California’s 45th district. “I have spent my career taking on special interests and will always make middle-class families my top priority. That is why our campaign is thrilled to earn the endorsement of End Citizens United and proud that we are running and winning a campaign that does not take corporate PAC money, or contributions from the following industries or those who work there: big banks, big oil, and gas, or big pharma.”
Congresswoman Mimi Walters has a history of siding with corporations over constituents, and it earned her a spot in ECU’s “Big Money 20” campaign — an effort targeting incumbent Republicans who represent the worst of Washington’s rigged system. Over the next coming months, ECU will help educate voters on how Congresswoman Walters prioritizes the needs of special interests that fund her campaigns over the needs of her constituents.
Walter’s most recent betrayal came when she voted in favor of the GOP tax bill, which would raise taxes on many working and middle class families in California. Her decision came after she was a target in a multi-million dollar ad blitz by GOP mega-donors. This is only one example out of a career of catering to special interests. Over her career, Walters has received over $190,000 from the oil and gas industry, voted to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, and co-sponsored a bill to lift the ban on crude oil exports, a giveaway to oil companies who had lobbied for the bill.
A recent study 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. A recent ECU poll found that 62% of voters believe that a candidate who refuses to accept corporate PAC money is a sign that the candidate is serious about reform. A money in politics reform platform has also been proven to help win voters, particularly independents and unaffiliated voters.
The decision to refuse corporate PAC contributions is a growing trend among 2018 candidates. Last week, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Cory Booker announced they are rejecting corporate money in their campaigns. The two join a group of over 70 candidates identified by ECU this cycle who are rejecting corporate PAC contributions. Porter joins the following group of ECU-endorsed candidates in California who are also rejecting corporate PAC money: Congressman Ro Khanna (CA-17), Andrew Janz (CA-22), Gil Cisneros (CA-39), and Josh Butner (CA-50).
ECU’s endorsement will help Porter compete with high-spending special interests by connecting her with its more than 6,000 grassroots members in CA-45, 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 a grassroots powered organization giving a voice to millions of American families. The group is dedicated to getting unlimited and undisclosed special interest money out of politics and ending the rigged system in Washington where politicians do the bidding of their donors at the expense of the American people.
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