Political Party/527

Citizen Action for Fair Elections

Location:

Albany, NY

Tax ID:

47-1963481

Project of:

Citizen Action of New York

Type:

Political Action Committee

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Citizen Action for Fair Elections was the political action committee affiliated with Citizen Action of New York, a left leaning advocacy group that promotes political causes and candidates across New York and is affiliated with the national left-progressive organizing coalition People’s Action. The organization has previously taken part in providing campaigning and financial support to many far-left candidates for public office across the state of New York. 1

According to IRS filings, Citizen Action for Fair Elections was listed as terminated in 2017. 2

Background

The origin of Citizen Action for Fair Elections can be traced to the 1979 founding of Citizen Action, a national left-leaning advocacy group that was born out of far-left student-radical group Students for a Democratic Society. The national Citizen Action group operated with independent state-level affiliates in nearly every state, including Citizen Action of New York, its most notable chapter. In 1997, Citizen Action was disbanded at the national level due to several scandals regarding campaign finance violations and notable left leaning groups pulling funding for the organization. Citizen Action was led by notable far-left activist Heather Booth, who founded a successor organization called USAction in 1999, which merged into People’s Action in 2016 alongside Community Organizations in Action, National People’s Action Campaign, and Campaign for America’s Future. People’s Action became the parent organization to Citizen Action of New York. 3

While Citizen Action was disbanded at the national level in 1997, Citizen Action of New York continued operation as among the largest and most notable of the former state affiliates of the organization. Citizen Action for Fair Elections was created as the political action arm of the organization to engage in expressly political activities such as canvassing voters and contributing directly to candidates. 3

Activity

Tax forms for Citizen Action for Fair Elections exist from the 2015 to 2017 tax years, with the forms indicating that the organization had less than $50,000 in gross receipts each year. On the organization’s 2017 tax return it was noted that the organization had terminated during that year. The organization listed Albany based Nexus Management Corp as the management company for the organization. 2

In November of 2014, an organizer for Citizen Action for Fair Elections shared information with the organization’s allies via a pubic Google Groups email that called for protesters to descend on Ferguson, Missouri to protest the decision of the grand jury in regards to the shooting of Michael Brown. The materials stated that there would be a protest regardless of the grand jury’s decision. 4

Citizen Action for Fair Elections was most active during a 2014 election for a New York State Senate seat. The high-profile state election pitted incumbent Democrat Cecilia Tkaczyk against George Amedore (R). The matchup drew national attention as a key to decide control of the New York State Senate and both candidates raised an estimated combined $5 million. Citizen Action for Fair Elections contributed $28,088.39 to Tkaczyk’s campaign. The election was won by Amedore, which led to Republican control of the New York State Senate in the 2015-2016 period. 5

References

  1. “ABOUT.” Citizen Action of New York. Accessed September 18, 2020. https://citizenactionny.org/about
  2. “IRS E- Postcard.” Citizen Action for Fair Elections. Accessed September 17, 2020.  https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/displayAll.do?dispatchMethod=displayAllInfo&Id=5004047&ein=471963481&country=US&deductibility=all&dispatchMethod=searchAll&isDescending=false&city=&ein1=471963481&postDateFrom=&exemptTypeCode=al&submitName=Search&sortColumn=orgName&totalResults=1&names=&resultsPerPage=25&indexOfFirstRow=0&postDateTo=&state=NY
  3. John Judis. “Below the Beltway: Activist Trouble.” The American Prospect. Jan/Feb 1998. Accessed September 17, 2020. Original URL: https://prospect.org/article/below-beltway-activist-trouble  Archived here: https://www.influencewatch.org/app/uploads/2019/06/Below-the-Beltway.-Am-Prospect.-1998.-06.2019.pdf
  4. “ENJAN, Citizen Action of NY & allies Update – Ferguson Grand Jury Decision Response (with attachments).” Google Groups Message. November 8, 2014. Accessed September 19, 2020. https://groups.google.com/g/cenjc-kingstonny/c/nyKQXhFoKxE
  5. Viccaro, Haley. “Money no object in Amedore-Tkaczyk rematch.” November 1, 2014. Accessed September 19, 2020. https://dailygazette.com/2014/11/01/money-no-object-amedore-tkaczyk-rematch/
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Citizen Action for Fair Elections

94 Central Ave
Albany, NY 12206-3002