My Plan to Fight Political Corruption

In order to get anything done in Washington, we need to get money out of politics.

Special interests and big-money lobbyists are standing in the way of everything we want to accomplish ­– from lowering drug prices and the cost of health insurance, to addressing gun violence and climate change.

I believe corporate lobbyists shouldn’t decide what laws we pass. I believe politicians shouldn’t get to choose their voters through partisan gerrymandering that decides the outcomes of our elections. And I believe that whether or not people run for office shouldn’t depend on how much special interests spend to help them.

I also believe that Washington can change. For the first time in decades, there are elected officials fighting to get corruption out of Congress. They are refusing to take corporate money, passing anti-corruption legislation, and putting small-dollar donors first. Progress is finally possible.

In Congress, I promise to work for the families of South Jersey — not corporate lobbyists or political machines. Together, we can restore our moral compass and return political power where it belongs — with the people.

I pledge not to accept contributions from corporate PACs.

Campaigns reflect how candidates will govern. That’s why I’m proud to take the No Corporate PAC Money pledge.

I will always have voters’ backs. Your voices matter far more to me than special interest donations ever could.

I pledge to support the For the People Act, which will end the culture of corruption in Washington.

Elections matter. In 2018, a record number of anti-corruption Democrats were elected to Congress. Together, they passed the historic For the People Act, or H.R. 1, through the House. This democracy reform legislation returns political power back to the voters, in three key ways:

• By making our elections clean and fair. The For the People Act improves access to the ballot box through automatic voter registration and early voting. It secures our elections, investing in secure voting systems and protecting against foreign interference. And it ends partisan gerrymandering through national redistricting reform.

• By getting big money out of politics. The For the People Act requires organizations to disclose their spending on online ads and prevents corporations from hiding political contributions. It also empowers small-dollar donors by matching their contributions, which boosts their impact and makes running for office more accessible to candidates who aren’t independently wealthy.

• By making politicians more accountable. The For the People Act prohibits members of Congress from serving on corporate boards, requires them to disclose conflicts of interest, and closes the loopholes that allow lobbyists and foreign agents to influence our elections.

The only way that Washington will get things done is if it listens to voters and cleans up its own act. We are so close to making the For the People Act law, and I promise to fight for this critical legislation in Congress.

I will fight to overturn Citizens United.

The Supreme Court’s decisions in Citizens United v. FEC and McCutcheon v. FEC opened our elections to record-breaking spending by Super PACs and corporate special interests. As a result, legislators are forced to spend more and more of their time catering to big-dollar donors instead of serving their constituents.

In Congress, I will cosponsor the Democracy for All Amendment, which would effectively overturn Citizens United and the other Supreme Court decisions that undermine our democracy.

I promise to fight to make our elections clean, free, and fair.

Our election system is broken: Instead of allowing voters to choose their representatives, it allows politicians to choose their voters. That’s outrageous, un-democratic, and un-American.

I pledge to fight to make our elections fair and transparent by:

• Ending partisan gerrymandering: State should be required to use independent redistricting commissions to draw voting maps. Politicians should never be able to manipulate district lines to rig elections. Our democracy works best when voting maps are drawn in a transparent, nonpartisan way.  

• Making it easier for Americans to vote: Registered voters should always be able to vote, and eligible voters should always be able to register. That’s why we need an automatic voter registration system (AVR). AVR streamlines the registration process so that eligible citizens who interact with government agencies are automatically added to the voter rolls, unless they opt out. AVR also automatically updates voters’ registration whenever they move or update their personal information. AVR is more efficient—and more accurate — as a result. 

We also need to greatly expand early, vote-by-mail, and same-day voting. Millions of eligible Americans never make it to the polls because politicians have made it so hard for them to do so. I will always support commonsense reforms that make it easier for Americans to exercise their right to vote.

• Protecting the right to vote: The Voting Rights Act ensures that our elections are free, fair, and accessible to all Americans. But Republicans have done everything they can to gut this fundamental law. I support the Voting Rights Advancement Act, which will restore important voter protections, block efforts to prevent eligible citizens from voting, and require greater transparency around changes to voting laws.

• Securing our elections: Washington has completely failed to secure our elections from foreign or other outside interference. I will fight for the investments we need to upgrade and protect our voting machines and our voter rolls. And I will work to close loopholes in our campaign finance laws that allow foreign powers to spend money to influence our democracy.