Mayday PAC Announces First Targets in Campaign to End Influence of Money in Politics

Johnathan Lipman — 2014-07-29

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PAC warns other candidates to get on right side of reform now

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Incumbents and challengers of both parties running for Congress were put on notice today as the Mayday PAC announced its first targets in its two-cycle plan to elect a Congress that will pass fundamental reform of the way campaigns are funded. The bipartisan PAC, cofounded by Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Lessig and Republican strategist Mark McKinnon, will be supporting one candidate from each party and encouraged other candidates nationwide to inoculate themselves against challenges by coming out now for reform.

The PAC’s first expenditures will come in two states crucial to national politics. In the New Hampshire Republican Senate primary, Mayday is supporting two-term State Senator Jim Rubens against former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown. In the open Iowa 3rd congressional district, Mayday is supporting former Democratic State Senator Staci Appel against Republican David Young.

“We started with these two races to be crystal clear – it doesn’t matter who you are, what your party is, or what powerful friends you have. If you are standing in the way of fundamental reform, if you are supporting what has become a fully corrupt system of money in politics, then you should watch your back. We will be announcing more races soon and you could be next,” Lessig said.

“Americans of all political stripes have had enough of systemic corruption,” said McKinnon. “This is an opportunity for politicians in both parties to stand up and be counted, knowing that there is grassroots support for genuine heroes of reform. I hope Republican and Democratic candidates for Congress take advantage of this opportunity to inoculate themselves – and firmly position themselves as supporters of reform.”

The PAC’s goal is to make the corrupt way campaigns are currently funded one of the top issues in targeted races, supporting those who pledge reform and working against those who don’t. It is part of a two election-cycle plan to hold candidates accountable to voters on the issue of money in politics and win a Congress committed to enacting reform. If successful in the 2014 cycle, the pilot effort will be significantly expanded for the 2016 elections. Today’s announced targets will give Mayday PAC an opportunity at measurable impact in important races.

In the New Hampshire Senate GOP primary, Rubens has pledged support for fundamental reform of the way elections are funded, while Brown has embraced special interest funding and was the deciding vote against in the DISCLOSE act, which would have increased donor transparency in response to the Citizens United ruling.

In the Iowa 3rd, Appel has championed reform and supports voluntary small dollar matching funds to help finance federal elections. She also supports a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United ruling, and helped introduce a bill in the state senate that would have established public financing for elections in Iowa. Meanwhile Young has deep ties to special interest money, and received more money from lobbyists than from any other industry.

Fuller fact sheets on each candidate’s record on reform can be found online here: https://mayday.us/factsheet/

In May, the Mayday PAC launched its first crowd-funded campaign to get money out of politics. After surpassing its initial goal of raising $1 million in only 13 days – which was matched by technology entrepreneurs from all sides of the political debate – the PAC launched a second crowd-funding campaign to raise $5 million by July 4th,, which it also met. As with the first campaign, the commitments made in the second were contingent upon meeting the $5 million target.

Like other Super PACs, Mayday PAC will spend its money independently of any political candidate. Unlike other Super PACs, the names of all contributors above $200 will be reported to the Federal Election Commission. It will not accept effectively anonymous contributions from groups that hide the identities of their funders, and has recently announced plans to publish detailed contribution reports with donor names every two weeks, starting August 5.

The vast majority of Americans believe big money donors have too much influence over politics, leading to a dysfunctional government and political decisions that benefit the few, not the many. Recent court decisions, like the D.C Circuit’s SpeechNow decision, have made the problem worse by ending limits on donations to independent political action committees, thereby creating the “Super PAC” and further increasing the influence of wealthy donors and large corporations. The MaydayPAC seeks fundamental reform of this system, including changes in the way elections are funded, as well as limits on contributions to political action committees.





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