Press Releases

Q3: Rodney Davis’ Votes Rake in Corporate PAC Checks at Illinois Families’ Expense

Oct 16, 2019

Davis, a Big Money 20 incumbent, has taken over $2.6 million from corporate PACs over the course of his political career and voted to benefit their bottom line

ECU-endorsed IL-13 candidate Betsy Dirksen Londrigan is rejecting corporate PAC money

Rep. Rodney Davis (IL-13) has built his career taking money from corporate special interests and megadonors. After cashing their checks, Rodney Davis has voted to benefit corporate special interests’ bottom line. Davis’ FEC filing for the third fundraising quarter of 2019 shows nothing different.

In the third quarter, Davis received over $100,000 from corporate PACs and reported only nine percent of his donations as coming from small donors. This includes accepting $11,000 from fast food and food manufacturing corporate PACs, big opponents of raising the minimum wage. In the same time span, Davis voted against raising the minimum wage to $15/hour in Congress. Rodney Davis’ vote on the minimum wage is no coincidence considering one of the corporate PACs he took money from in the third quarter represents Pizza Hut, which has one of the lowest average salaries in the United States.

“Rodney Davis’ record of corruption in Washington was already bad and only seems to be getting worse,” said End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller. “Rodney Davis is Washington personified. In March, Davis voted against the For the People Act, the most sweeping anti-corruption and ethics reform bill since Watergate, to protect his big money donors’ bottom line. Betsy Dirksen Londrigan is rejecting corporate PAC money and building a movement to bring transparent leadership to Washington.”

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 6,800 in Illinois’ 13th Congressional District. ECU raised $44 million in the 2018 cycle and helped elect 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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