At least 100 members will be rejecting corporate PAC money in 2027; less than 10 members rejected corporate PAC money in 2017
Washington, DC, Nov. 04, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — End Citizens United (ECU), a leading national anti-corruption organization, today announced a historic milestone in its nearly decade-long fight to change the way campaigns are financed. At least 100 members of the incoming 120th Congress will be rejecting corporate PAC money, shattering the previous record and marking the largest coalition of lawmakers to ever make that commitment.
When ECU first launched its No Corporate PAC pledge in 2017, fewer than 10 members of Congress across both chambers refused corporate PAC money. With the addition of this year’s incoming class, that number will grow to 100, the largest group of lawmakers to ever make that commitment. The previous high was 73 in the 118th Congress.
“The conventional wisdom in Washington has always been that candidates need corporate PAC money to win elections. It turns out that thinking was more conventional than wisdom,” said End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller. “These leaders have challenged a longstanding assumption about what it takes to win, and they’re entering the new Congress with a mandate to make government more accountable to the people. That commitment matters more than ever to voters who are watching their costs keep climbing while powerful corporations face no accountability. This is no longer a handful of members taking a stand. It’s a growing force on Capitol Hill, with the potential to fundamentally change the relationship between elected officials and corporate special interests. That’s the kind of change we set out to make when we started this movement in 2017.”
ECU has been building a coalition of members who refuse corporate contributions since launching the No Corporate PAC Pledge in 2017. This year’s Unrig Washington program, which grew to over 300 candidates this cycle, expanded on that pledge by calling on candidates to support a ban on congressional stock trading and commit to help crack down on dark money in elections, on top of rejecting corporate PAC money.
As incoming and sitting members prepare to be sworn into the 120th Congress, ECU will work with them to make anti-corruption reform the top priority. ECU looks forward to helping put power back with everyday Americans and out of the hands of big donors.
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CONTACT: Bawadden Sayed End Citizens United bawadden@endcitizensunited.org
