Press Releases

End Citizens United Names Rep. Jim Hagedorn To “Big Money 20”

Oct 10, 2019

 Hagedorn has taken over $100,000 in corporate PAC money over the course of his political career

In 2018, 82% of “Big Money 20” targets were defeated or retired

End Citizens United (ECU) today named Rep. Jim Hagedorn (MN-01) to the Big Money 20, the group’s top incumbents to defeat in 2020. ECU’s Big Money 20 campaign is focused on defeating incumbents who benefit most from the corrupt establishment in Washington by showing voters how politicians like Rep. Hagedorn put corporate special interest donors ahead of the people they’re supposed to represent.

“Rep. Jim Hagedorn hasn’t even served a full term yet and already represents the worst of Washington’s corruption,” said End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller. “Instead of focusing on the interests of Minnesota families, Hagedorn has spent his time in Congress pandering to the corporate special interests that put him in office. After taking $32,000 from Wall Street for his 2018 campaign, Jim Hagedorn voted against protecting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and worked to make it harder for consumers to sue banks that wronged Americans across the country. Hagedorn takes $21,000 from Big Oil and in return does little when ethanol refineries, like those in Winnebago, MN, close. Minnesotans deserve representation that owes no favors to corporate special interests, and End Citizens United will work tirelessly to defeat Jim Hagedorn in 2020.”

End Citizens United aims to educate voters about the Big Money 20, incumbents who represent the worst of Washington, and rally support for reforming the political system. The members of the Big Money 20 are incumbents who take money from corporate special interests, mega-donors, and industries like Big Pharma and Big Oil and then put those interests ahead of their constituents.

Jim Hagedorn would not be in office without his network of wealthy megadonors and corporate special interests. After he narrowly won his 2018 campaign, Hagedorn got to work doing the bidding of those that put him in Congress –– Wall Street, Big Oil, and dark money Super PACs like the Congressional Leadership Fund. Washington is broken and politicians like Jim Hagedorn are working to keep it that way. In Congress, Hagedorn has sold out to Big Oil and taken $21,000 from the industry while standing by as the Trump administration gives refinery waivers that hurt Minnesota farmers and shut down refineries in Southern Minnesota. Hagedorn has also taken $39,500 in corporate PAC money in 2019 and more than $42,500 from corporate CEOs and Presidents. Jim Hagedorn is beholden to wealthy special interests, not Minnesota families.

In the 2018 cycle, End Citizens United helped defeat or retire 82% of the Big Money 20 targets. ECU will connect its more than 550,000 donors to endorsed candidates who are challenging Big Money 20 targets.

ECU has conducted extensive polling and research showing that voters across the political spectrum support getting big money out of politics. ECU is a traditional political action committee (PAC) with more than four million members, including 58,600 in Minnesota. ECU raised $44 million in the last cycle and helped elect over 150 members to the 116th Congress, including two new U.S. Senators and 58 new U.S. Representatives. The reform group is entirely grassroots-funded with an average donation of just $14.

For a full list and additional background on the Big Money 20, click here

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