¶ End Citizens United
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End Citizens United (ECU) is an American political action committee based in Washington, D.C. It is the sister organization of the End Citizens United Action Fund, and is affiliated with Let America Vote and Fight for Reform.[1]
¶ History
End Citizens United was incorporated in the District of Columbia on April 24, 2015,[2] founded by Greg Berlin, Jake Lipsett and Charles Starnes.[3] The organization was officially launched in August 2015 with plans to fund Democratic Party candidates for the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate in the 2016 United States presidential election. In the longer term, ECU sought to pass an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to reverse Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, a 2010 decision of the Supreme Court of the United States which gave rise to super political action committees (super PACs).[4]
During the 2016 election, ECU partnered with Ready for Hillary, gaining access to the latter's mailing list of upwards of 4 million people. ECU endorsed Russ Feingold and Michael Bennet in their Congressional races, and officially endorsed Hillary Clinton on July 20, 2016.[4:1][5]
In January 2020, ECU merged with Let America Vote.[6]
¶ 2024 presidential election
In late 2023, End Citizens United participated in a call organized by Third Way during which a "broad anti-Trump coalition" developed plans to oppose No Labels in their bid to run a third-party candidate during the 2024 United States presidential election. Other attendees included Sarah Longwell, Bill Kristol, Doug Jones, and Reid Hoffman aide Dmitri Mehlhorn, along with representatives from MoveOn, the Lincoln Project, American Bridge 21st Century, Public Citizen and Reproductive Freedom for All.[7]
End Citizens United filed complaints against No Labels with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and 27 states in order to pressure the organization to reveal its donors.[8] On January 11, 2024, No Labels wrote a letter to the United States Department of Justice alleging that End Citizens United and its collaborators had unduly interfered with its efforts to get on the ballot in the 2024 election.[9]
¶ Organization
End Citizens United has been a client of 270 Strategies,[10] Blue Wave Political Partners[11] and Elias Law Group.[12]
¶ Personnel
The team at End Citizens United is made up of "veteran Democratic operatives."[13][14]
| Name | Position | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Greg Berlin | Co-Founder[3:1] | Mothership Strategies, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) |
| Jake Lipsett | Co-Founder[3:2] | Mothership Strategies, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) |
| Charles Starnes | Co-Founder[3:3] | Mothership Strategies, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) |
| Tiffany Muller | President[15] | Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) |
| Jessica Adair | Political Director (former)[16] | Stand Up America |
| Reed Adamson | Senior Advisor[4:2] | Silversmith Strategies |
| Sam Amofah | Compliance Assistant | - |
| Ali Anderson | Regional Political Director | International Brotherhood of Teamsters |
| Mark Andrews | Deputy Director of Compliance and Operations | - |
| Jonelle Bailey | Research Coordinator | EMILY's List |
| Ron Barber | Board Member | United States House of Representatives |
| Maddie Beckenholdt | Deputy Development Director | Los Angeles County Democratic Party (LACDP) |
| Amanda Bogden | Chief Operating Officer | Raffa |
| Adam Bozzi | Vice President for Communications (former) | Anticipate Public Affairs |
| Patrick Burgwinkle | Communications Director (former) | Stellar Development Foundation |
| Richard Carbo | Communications Director[4:3] | - |
| Kimberly Coleman | Treasurer[17] | - |
| Chris deLaubenfels | General Counsel and Legal Director | United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio |
| Jonas Edwards-Jenks | Communications Director | Everytown for Gun Safety |
| Lanae Erickson | Board Member | Third Way |
| Karen Finney | Board Member | CNN |
| Sebastian Franco | Research Associate (former) | Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange |
| Justin Gibbs-Poe | Digital and Communications Assistant | Let America Vote |
| Amanda Hills | Political Coordinator (former) | University of Pennsylvania Health System |
| Anatolia Hodson | Deputy Digital Director | Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) |
| Whitney James | Development Assistant | ClearPath Strategies |
| Ally Johnson | Research Associate (former) | - |
| Lynn Jorden | Independent Expenditure Director | Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) |
| Jason Kander | Board Member | Veterans Community Project |
| Devin Kiernan | Executive Assistant (former) | Breakwater Strategy (BWS) |
| Dalit Kluger | Executive Coordinator | Iowa Democratic Party |
| Andrew Laskar | National Finance Director (former) | Granite Values PAC |
| N.V. Macek | Digital Director | Battleground Texas |
| Valerie Martin | Senior Advisor[4:4] | Claire McAskill |
| Christopher Massicotte | Board Member | DSPolitical |
| Matt Morrison | Board Member | Working America |
| Jody Murphy | Vice President for Independent Expenditures (former) | - |
| Rajan Narang | Director of State and Local Campaigns (former) | Shakti Campaigns |
| Jaycie Owens | Finance Assistant (former) | Office of the Colorado State Public Defender |
| Joe Radosevich | Political Director (former) | Center for American Progress (CAP) |
| George Roderick | State and Local Campaigns Coordinator (former) | Democracy Fund |
| Bawadden Sayed | Deputy Communications Director | Angus King |
| Dorothy Scheeline | Research Director (former) | Legal Aid DC |
| Grace Silva | Press Secretary | Democratic Party of Wisconsin |
| Bill Smith | Board Member | Civitas Public Affairs Group |
| Rushad Thomas | Legislative Affairs Director | Third Way |
| Justine Turner | Political Director | iHeartMedia |
| Jessica Vanden Berg | Board Member | New Leaders Council (NLC) |
| Simone L. Ward | Board Member | Democratic National Committee (DNC) |
| Brian Wietgrefe | Research Director | ProgressNow |
¶ Funding
Donors to End Citizens United include:[18][19][20][21]
- Adelaide Gomer
- Allen Blue
- Austin Fite
- Barbara Tyson
- Bruce Golden
- Cameron Freres
- Charles Bronfman
- Clark Colton
- Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC[22]
- Courtney B. Vance
- Deborah Simon
- Delma Wickham-Smith
- Diane Meyer Simon
- DigiDems
- Don Henley
- End Citizens United Action Fund
- Foundation for National Progress
- George Soros[23]
- Ibrahim AlHusseini
- International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART)[24]
- Janet Meiselman
- Jonathan Soros
- Joss Whedon
- Kelly Bronfman
- Mark S. Komrad
- Maya Garcia
- Nancy Nordhoff
- Nelson Rising
- Penny Torres-Spinnler
- Rosemary Pritzker
- Scott Shenker
- Tim Disney
- Vin Ryan
- Vint Cerf
- William Buffett
- William Danforth
ECU also raises money through the End Citizens United Senate Defense Fund.
¶ Expenditures
Individuals and companies hired by End Citizens United include:[25][26][27][28][29]
- ActBlue
- Blueprint Interactive
- Change.org
- End Citizens United Action Fund
- EveryAction
- Fidelity Investments
- Global Strategy Group
- Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research (GQR)
- John Hlinko Consulting
- LHREV Washington M Street
- LSQ Funding Group
- Message Digital
- Mission Control
- MissionWired
- Mothership Strategies
- Mundy Katowitz Media
- Paychex
- Pivot Group
- Rising Tide Interactive
- Sage Media Planning & Placement
- Sapphire Strategies
- Screen Strategies Media
- Silversmith Strategies[16:1]
- TargetSmart
- Tatango
- Trilogy Interactive
- Wavelength Strategy
- Well & Lighthouse
- Wildfire Contact
¶ Political contributions
End Citizens United has provided funding to the following candidates, parties and political action committees:[30][24:1][31][22:1][32]
- Arizona Democratic Party
- Asian American Action Fund (AAAFund)
- Asian American and Pacific Islanders Rising and Empowering Political Action Committee (ASPIRE PAC)
- Blue Leadership Collaborative (BLC)
- Blue Wave Project
- BOLD PAC
- California Democratic Party
- The Collective PAC
- Congressional Black Caucus Political Action Committee (CBC PAC)
- Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC
- Defend the Vote
- Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC)
- Democratic Executive Committee of Florida
- Democratic Grassroots Victory Fund
- Democratic National Committee (DNC)
- Democratic Party of Illinois
- Democratic Party of New Mexico
- Democratic Party of Virginia
- Democratic Party of Wisconsin
- Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC)
- Elect Democratic Women
- EMILY's List
- Equality PAC
- Every Voice Action
- Follow the North Star Fund
- Future Forum PAC
- Georgia Senate Victory Fund
- Hillary Action Fund
- House Majority PAC
- Human Rights Campaign
- Indiana Democratic Congressional Victory Committee
- Iowa Democratic Party
- Iowa Grassroots Victory Fund
- Jobs, Education, & Families First (JEFF PAC)
- Justice Unites Us PAC
- Kansas Democratic Party
- Keep GA06 Blue
- Latino Victory Fund
- LGBTQ+ Victory Fund
- Life of the Party
- Liftoff PAC
- Maine Democratic Party
- Michigan Democratic State Central Committee
- Michigan Forward Action
- Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL)
- Missouri Democratic Party
- Montana Democratic Party
- NARAL Pro-Choice America
- National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC)
- National Democratic Training Committee (NDTC)
- Nevada State Democratic Party
- New Hampshire Democratic Party (NHDP)
- New Jersey Democratic State Committee
- New Jersey Dems Victory Fund
- New York State Democratic Committee
- North Carolina Democratic Party (NCDP)
- Oceans PAC
- Off the Sidelines
- Ohio Democratic Party
- OK-05 Victory Fund
- PAC to the Future
- Pennsylvania Democratic Party
- Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC)
- Purpose PAC
- Rhode Island Democratic Party
- Rhode Island Victory Fund 2018
- Service First PAC
- South Carolina Democratic Party (SCDP)
- Texas Democratic Party
- Truth to Power
- Turquoise PAC
- VoteVets
- Washington State Democratic Central Committee
- Young Democrats of America (YDA)
- Zinc Collective
¶ Publications
- June 6, 2024: "End Citizens United Slams RFK Jr. After Report of Extortion and Potential Campaign Finance Violations"
- June 13, 2024: "RFK Jr. Exploiting Campaign Finance Laws to Play Spoiler in Presidential Election"
¶ External links
- Ballotpedia
- Federal Election Commission
- InfluenceWatch
- OpenCorporates
- OpenSecrets
- Website
- Wikipedia
About Us. End Citizens United. Retrieved July 6, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.07.06-135609/https://endcitizensunited.org/about-us/ ↩︎
District of Columbia Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs. (2024, May 18). End Citizens United. OpenCorporates. https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_dc/EXTUID_4153289 ↩︎
Blumenthal, P. (2016, April 21). This Group Raised $11 Million To Defeat Citizens United. So Why Do People Hate Them? HuffPost UK. https://web.archive.org/web/20210918054117/https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/end-citizens-united-pac-campaign-finance-reform_n_570e5308e4b0ffa5937da409 ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Frumin, A. (2015, August 20). End Citizens United PAC wants to make its name a reality. MSNBC. https://web.archive.org/web/20240331114952/https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/end-citizens-united-pac-wants-make-its-name-reality-msna665576 ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Bozzi, A. (2016, July 20). End Citizens United Endorses Hillary Clinton for President. End Citizens United. https://web.archive.org/web/20230903165834/https://endcitizensunited.org/latest-news/press-releases/end-citizens-united-endorses-hillary-clinton-for-president/ ↩︎
Let America Vote to Join End Citizens United Network to Fight to Unrig the System. (2020, January 30). Let America Vote. https://web.archive.org/web/20200423061912/https://www.letamericavote.org/news/blog/2020/let-america-vote-end-citizens-united/ ↩︎
Talcott, S. (2023, December 19). A broad anti-Trump coalition plots a campaign to stop a No Labels third-party bid. Semafor. http://archive.today/2024.01.27-012539/https://www.semafor.com/article/12/19/2023/the-plot-against-no-labels ↩︎
Seitz-Wald, A. (2024, March 14). Democrats prepare to go to war against third-party candidates. NBC News. http://archive.today/2024.03.15-044426/https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/dnc-war-third-party-candidates-rcna143290 ↩︎
Corujo, C. (2024, January 18). No Labels files DOJ complaint about groups boycotting its 2024 presidential ballot access effort. CBS News. https://web.archive.org/web/20240412235512/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/no-labels-party-2024-presidential-ballot-access-effort-complaint/ ↩︎
Vendor/Recipient Profile: 270 Strategies - 2018. OpenSecrets. Retrieved March 15, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/campaign-expenditures/vendor?cycle=2018&vendor=270+Strategies ↩︎
Vendor/Recipient Profile: Blue Wave Political Partners - 2020. OpenSecrets. Retrieved June 7, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/campaign-expenditures/vendor?cycle=2020&vendor=Blue+Wave+Political+Partners ↩︎
Browse Disbursements - Elias Law Group - 2021-2022. Federal Election Commission. Retrieved March 6, 2024, from https://www.fec.gov/data/disbursements/?data_type=processed&recipient_name=Elias+Law+Group&two_year_transaction_period=2022 ↩︎
Meet Our Team. End Citizens United. Retrieved June 14, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240614180011/https://endcitizensunited.org/about-us/meet-our-team/ ↩︎
Meet Our Team. End Citizens United. Retrieved March 22, 2020, from https://web.archive.org/web/20200322033344/https://endcitizensunited.org/about-us/meet-our-team/ ↩︎
End Citizens United Slams RFK Jr. After Report of Extortion and Potential Campaign Finance Violations. (2024, June 6). End Citizens United. http://archive.today/2024.06.07-164149/https://endcitizensunited.org/latest-news/press-releases/end-citizens-united-slams-rfk-jr-after-report-of-extortion-and-potential-campaign-finance-violations/ ↩︎
Jessica Adair. HuffPost. Retrieved June 23, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240623001151/https://www.huffpost.com/author/jessica-adair ↩︎ ↩︎
End Citizens United - committee overview. Federal Election Commission. Retrieved June 15, 2024, from http://archive.today/2024.06.15-184312/https://www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00573261/?tab=about-committee ↩︎
End Citizens United PAC Donors - 2022. OpenSecrets. Retrieved June 19, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/end-citizens-united/C00573261/donors/2022?start=150&page_length=25 ↩︎
End Citizens United PAC Donors - 2020. OpenSecrets. Retrieved June 19, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/end-citizens-united/C00573261/donors/2020?start=26&page_length=25 ↩︎
End Citizens United PAC Donors - 2018. OpenSecrets. Retrieved June 19, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/end-citizens-united/C00573261/donors/2018?start=25&page_length=25 ↩︎
End Citizens United PAC Donors - 2016. OpenSecrets. Retrieved June 19, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/end-citizens-united/C00573261/donors/2016?page_length=25&start=1 ↩︎
End Citizens United PAC to PAC/Party - 2022. OpenSecrets. Retrieved June 20, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/end-citizens-united/C00573261/pac-to-pac/2022 ↩︎ ↩︎
Vogel, K. P. (2016, July 27). George Soros rises again. Politico. http://archive.today/2016.07.27-185354/http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/george-soros-democratic-convention-226267 ↩︎
End Citizens United PAC to PAC/Party - 2018. OpenSecrets. Retrieved June 20, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/end-citizens-united/C00573261/pac-to-pac/2018 ↩︎ ↩︎
End Citizens United PAC Expenditures - 2016. OpenSecrets. Retrieved June 20, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/end-citizens-united/C00573261/expenditures/2016 ↩︎
End Citizens United PAC Expenditures - 2018. OpenSecrets. Retrieved June 20, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/end-citizens-united/C00573261/expenditures/2018 ↩︎
End Citizens United PAC Expenditures - 2020. OpenSecrets. Retrieved June 20, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/end-citizens-united/C00573261/expenditures/2020 ↩︎
End Citizens United PAC Expenditures - 2022. OpenSecrets. Retrieved June 20, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/end-citizens-united/C00573261/expenditures/2022 ↩︎
End Citizens United PAC Expenditures - 2024. OpenSecrets. Retrieved June 20, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/end-citizens-united/C00573261/expenditures/2024 ↩︎
End Citizens United PAC to PAC/Party - 2016. OpenSecrets. Retrieved June 20, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/end-citizens-united/C00573261/pac-to-pac/2016 ↩︎
End Citizens United PAC to PAC/Party - 2020. OpenSecrets. Retrieved June 20, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/end-citizens-united/C00573261/pac-to-pac/2020 ↩︎
End Citizens United PAC to PAC/Party - 2024. OpenSecrets. Retrieved June 20, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/end-citizens-united/C00573261/pac-to-pac/2024 ↩︎