Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Gaetz looks to be first House Republican swearing off PAC money

Matt Gaetz

Gaetz received $340,000 from political action committees during his first House term.

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

If there is one area of common ground that Matt Gaetz, one of President Trump's fiercest defenders at the Capitol, can find with Democrats, it's his newfound distaste for political action committees.

Addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday, the combative second-term Republican from Florida announced his campaign would no longer accept PAC money. While making a similar hands-off pledge has become something of a badge of honor for Democratic candidates and junior House members, Gaetz says he's become the first GOP member of Congress to make such a promise — and he appears to be correct.


End Citizens United, an increasingly powerful advocacy and campaign organization pressing to limit the influence of big money in politics, persuaded dozens of Democratic congressional candidates two years ago to forswear contributions from corporate PACs — and more than 40 of them got elected. So far this year, 60 incumbents seeking reelection to Congress and 23 challengers or open seat candidates have done so, until now all of them Democrats. A handful of the party's remaining presidential candidates have done likewise.

Gaetz took PAC money when he won an open and reliably Republican seat covering the Florida panhandle four years ago, and again when he won his second term by 2-to-1 in 2018. He said he was abandoning the practice now because he no longer wanted to be indebted to special interests — and he said his pledge was yet another way of echoing the Trump approach.

"Remember our independence from special interests is our loyalty to America and the America First movement that President Trump began," Gaetz told CPAC, which hosts the biggest annual gathering of conservative activists.

A member of the Judiciary and Armed Services committees, Gaetz received $340,000 from PACs in his first term but just $43,000 last year. Overall, however his total campaign contributions have stayed about the same, with a much greater share of money coming from small-dollar donors this year — when his national profile has skyrocketed because of his vigorous defense of Trump during impeachment.

Gaetz criticized the longstanding practices of both parties in Congress to offer "committee assignments and leadership opportunities" to the lawmakers "most indebted to special interests."

"I've never turned tricks for Washington PACs, but as of today, I'm done picking up their money in the nightstand," Gaetz said, explicitly likening public service under the PAC donation process to prostitution.

Read More

Defend Democracy Against Bombardments on the Elections Front –A Three-Part Series
polling station poster on clear glass door

Defend Democracy Against Bombardments on the Elections Front –A Three-Part Series

In Part One, Pat Merloe explored the impact of the political environment, the need for constitutional defense against power-grabbing, and the malign effects of proof of citizenship on voting.

In the second part of the three-part series, Merloe explores the harmful effects of Executive Orders, the reversal of the Justice Department on voting rights, and the effects of political retribution.

Keep ReadingShow less
Defend Democracy Against Bombardments on the Elections Front –A Three-Part Series
Voted printed papers on white surface

Defend Democracy Against Bombardments on the Elections Front –A Three-Part Series

In Part 1, Pat Merloe examines the impact of the political environment, the necessity of constitutional defense against power-grabbing, and the detrimental effects of proof of citizenship on voting.

Part One: Bellicose Environment, Constitutional Infringements, and Disenfranchisement by Proof of Citizenship

The intense MAGA barrage against genuine elections, leading up to 2024’s voting, paused briefly after Election Day - not because there was diminished MAGA hostility towards typically trustworthy processes and results, but mainly because Donald Trump won. Much valuable work took place to protect last year’s polls, and much more will be needed as we head toward 2026, 2028, and beyond.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rear view diverse voters waiting for polling place to open
SDI Productions/Getty Images

Open Primaries Topic Creates a Major Tension for Independents

Open primaries create fine opportunities for citizens who are registered as independents or unaffiliated voters to vote for either Democrats or Republicans in primary elections, but they tacitly undermine the mission of those independents who are opposed to both major parties by luring them into establishment electoral politics. Indeed, independents who are tempted to support independent candidates or an independent political movement can be converted to advocates of our duopoly if their states have one form or another of Open Primaries.

Twenty U.S. states currently have Open Primaries for at least one political party at the presidential, congressional, and state levels, including Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin. At least 15 states conduct "semi-closed" primaries, a middle position in which unaffiliated voters still have an option to choose to vote in one of the major party primaries. 

Keep ReadingShow less
Voter registration
The national voter registration form is now available in 20 non-English languages, including three Native American languages.
SDI Productions

With Ranked Choice Voting in NYC, Women Win

As New York prepares to choose its next city council and mayor in primaries this week, it’s worth remembering that the road to gender equality in the nation’s largest city has been long and slow.

Before 2021, New York’s 51-member council had always been majority male. Women hadn’t even gotten close to a majority. The best showing had been 18 seats, just a tick above 35 percent.

Keep ReadingShow less