Mayday PAC (MAYDAY.US) is a crowd-funded super PAC committed to fundamentally changing the way elections are funded. We want to help reform the system so that more of your constituents feel motivated to engage and participate.
We believe – not as Democrats, or as Republicans, but as citizens – that our Congress is crippled by its dependence on campaign cash. We also believe it is on us to do something about it – by supporting leaders who will fundamentally change the way campaigns are funded so that legislators are dependent on citizens, not the funders of campaigns.
During the 2014 election cycle, MAYDAY targeted a number of congressional candidates for support or opposition, spending between $100,000 and $2.5 million in targeted House races. Our targets included little-known challengers, powerful incumbents, and many candidates in between.
This year, our work is different.
On March 14, we asked the more than 50,000 contributors to MAYDAY to help us identify potential leaders in Congress who can help rally support behind legislation that would fundamentally change the way campaigns are funded. We had hundreds of replies, and beginning on May 1, our supporters will reach out to voters in districts across the country to ask them to help us recruit those potential leaders to the cause of reform.
You were one of these leaders identified by our members. We are writing today to ask you to answer their call.
We have identified 5 proposals that would fundamentally change how campaigns are funded. These include two Republican proposals, two Democratic proposals, and one that was crafted with advice from both sides. (You can see all five at RepsWith.US).
It would be enormously important to our democracy if you would answer the call of the citizens across the country who see you as a leader who could help us forge a majority for reform. Over the next weeks, we will be reaching out to voters to share with them the news that you have been identified as a leader, and to ask them to reach out to you as well. We hope you will take the chance to talk to these citizens and constituents, and we very much hope you can join at least one of these reforms as a cosponsor.
We know you know how frustrated the vast majority of Americans are with the current system for funding campaigns. Help us show them that there is a way to fix it. Because the closer we get to a majority committed to fundamental reform, the more this movement will grow. And if we can show voters that their leaders will step up and lead, we believe we can build enough strength to make this reform possible.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. If there are questions we can answer, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Lawrence Lessig, Professor, Harvard Law School
Mark McKinnon, former advisor to George W. Bush and John McCain