End Citizens United (ECU) is a Democratic-aligned political action committee (PAC) founded by three former Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) staffers in 2015. The PAC endorses political candidates who promise to overturn the 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. FEC.¹

ECU adopts a heavily criticized ‘churn and burn’ email marketing strategy for its fundraising schemes. This led to the PAC raising $11 million in its first year.² Some of ECU’s allies have criticized ECU’s fundraising strategies.³

The PAC endorsed Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. During the 2016 election cycle, ECU contributed $50,000 to Clinton, $90,000 to the DCCC,⁴ and spent nearly $11 million against Republicans.⁵

Founding

In 2015, Greg Berlin, a former digital campaign director for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC);⁶ Charles Starnes, former deputy digital director of the DCCC;⁷  and ex-congressional staffer Jake Lipsett founded End Citizens United, a political action committee (PAC) that endorses Democratic Party candidates who support the overturning of the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. FEC.⁸

The three men also run a digital political consultancy, Mothership Strategies, of which End Citizens United is a client.⁹

Political Activities

End Citizens United (ECU) began its fundraising drive almost immediately upon its creation in 2015, sending as many as seven emails per day to potential donors.¹⁰ The DCCC created this ‘churn and burn’ strategy in 2014, and Mothership Strategies, a liberal Democratic-aligned digital strategy firm created by Berlin, Starnes, and Lipsett in 2014,¹¹ adopted it.

ECU used this email strategy to persuade individuals to “rush a donation” to “restore our Democracy.” Within its first year, ECU had raised $11 million and spent $6.3 million. End Citizens United spent around 65% of the $6.3 million on consultancy fees and other expenses including $1.7 million to rent email lists from organizations such as Ready for Hillary PAC, Care2, and media outlets like the Nation. End Citizens United also spent $1.2 million on the services of Rising Tide interactive and $500,000 on services provided by Mothership Strategies.¹²

For its first endorsements, ECU used a questionnaire to decide what candidates from the Democratic Party it advocated. Five of the 11 candidates chosen were clients of Mothership Strategies.¹³

2016 Presidential Election

End Citizens United endorsed Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. The PAC explains in a press release that it endorsed Clinton because of her “aggressive plan to reform our campaign finance system and end the corrupting influence of unlimited, anonymous spending in our elections.”¹⁴ During the 2016 election cycle, ECU contributed $50,000 to the Hillary Action Fund and $90,000 to the DCCC in PAC to PAC payments,¹⁵ while also spending just under $11 million in independent expenditures, communication costs, and coordinated expenses against the Republicans.¹⁶

2018 Midterm Elections

ECU contributed $135,000 to the DCCC during the 2018 election cycle and donated $1 million to Democratic Party candidates including $650,000 to Jason Crow (D-Colorado). ECU also spent $2.1 million against Republican candidates including $1.7 million against Matt Rosendale (R-Montana).¹⁷

2020 Presidential Election

During the 2020 election End Citizens United endorsed Joe Biden for president. ¹⁸ During the same election cycle they donated $60,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), $80,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), and $50,000 to the DNC Services Corp. ¹⁹

2022 Midterm Elections

For the 2022 midterms ECU has donated $80,000 to the DCCC and $60,000 to the DSCC. ²⁰ They have also donated to PAC to the Future, a PAC affiliated with Nancy Pelosi. ²¹

On their website, the organization has a list titled the “Big Money 20,” a list of 20 “top Republicans to defeat” in the 2020 midterm elections due to being the “worst of Washington-style corrupt politics” according to the group.  Notable names on the list include Marco Rubio, Herschel Walker, and Mehmet Oz. ²²

Criticism

Campaign Finance

ECU has multiple critics among other liberals supporting restrictions on campaign speech.²³ Move to Amend, a non-profit coalition that supports reversing Citizens United v. FEC denounced ECU on its website.²⁴

Affiliations

End Citizens United created the End Citizens United Action Network in 2017. The Action Network is an online forum for individuals and groups to use to organize events, petitions, and fundraising drives for “progressive causes.”²⁵

End Citizens United works closely with Mothership Strategies, the Democratic-aligned digital strategy firm created by ECU’s founders. End Citizens United is reportedly Motherships largest non-candidate client.²⁶ During the 2016 election cycle, ECU paid Mothership Strategies $3.3 million;²⁷ the PAC paid the firm another $2.7 million for its services in the 2018 mid-term election cycle.²⁸

1. Blumenthal, Paul. “This Group Raised $11 Million To Defeat Citizens United. So Why Do People Hate Them?” HuffPost UK. April 21, 2016. Accessed September 12, 2018. https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/end-citizens-united-pac-campaign-finance-reform_us_570e5308e4b0ffa5937da409.
2. Blumenthal, Paul. “This Group Raised $11 Million To Defeat Citizens United. So Why Do People Hate Them?” HuffPost UK. April 21, 2016. Accessed September 12, 2018. https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/end-citizens-united-pac-campaign-finance-reform_us_570e5308e4b0ffa5937da409.
3. “Move to Amend.” We the People, Not We the Corporations | Move to Amend. June 17, 2015. Accessed September 12, 2018. https://movetoamend.org/beware-group-end-citizens-united-pulling-your-chain.
4. “End Citizens United to PACs/Parties.” OpenSecrets. Accessed September 12, 2018. https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pac2pac.php?cycle=2016&cmte=C00573261.
5. “End Citizens United Independent Expenditures.” OpenSecrets. Accessed September 12, 2018. https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/indexpend.php?cmte=C00573261&cycle=2016&txt=.
6. “Greg Berlin” US Election Tour 2018. Accessed September 10, 2018. http://www.uselectiontour2018.com/speakers/35/greg-berlin.
7. Samuelsohn, Darren, Geoffrey Kabaservice, Erick Trickey, Alondra De La Cruz, and Jack Shafer. “URGENT: Dems’ Email Bonanza.” About Us. August 07, 2014. Accessed September 12, 2018. https://www.politico.com/story/2014/08/urgent-democratic-emails-fundraising-bonanza-brandon-english-109775.
8. Blumenthal, Paul. “This Group Raised $11 Million To Defeat Citizens United. So Why Do People Hate Them?” HuffPost UK. April 21, 2016. Accessed September 10, 2018. https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/end-citizens-united-pac-campaign-finance-reform_us_570e5308e4b0ffa5937da409.
9. Ludwig, Hayden. “Former Politicos Cash in on Democratic Dreams.” Capital Research Center. September 7, 2018. Accessed September 11, 2018. https://capitalresearch.org/article/former-politicos-cash-in-on-democratic-dreams/.
10. Blumenthal, Paul. “This Group Raised $11 Million To Defeat Citizens United. So Why Do People Hate Them?” HuffPost UK. April 21, 2016. Accessed September 12, 2018. https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/end-citizens-united-pac-campaign-finance-reform_us_570e5308e4b0ffa5937da409.
11. “About Us.” Mothership Strategies. Accessed September 12, 2018. https://mothershipstrategies.com/about-us/.
12. Blumenthal, Paul. “This Group Raised $11 Million To Defeat Citizens United. So Why Do People Hate Them?” HuffPost UK. April 21, 2016. Accessed September 12, 2018. https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/end-citizens-united-pac-campaign-finance-reform_us_570e5308e4b0ffa5937da409.
13. Blumenthal, Paul. “This Group Raised $11 Million To Defeat Citizens United. So Why Do People Hate Them?” HuffPost UK. April 21, 2016. Accessed September 12, 2018. https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/end-citizens-united-pac-campaign-finance-reform_us_570e5308e4b0ffa5937da409.
14. “End Citizens United Endorses Hillary Clinton for President.” End Citizens United. July 20, 2016. Accessed September 12, 2018. http://endcitizensunited.org/press-releases/end-citizens-united-endorses-hillary-clinton-for-president/.
15. “End Citizens United to PACs/Parties.” OpenSecrets. Accessed September 12, 2018. https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pac2pac.php?cycle=2016&cmte=C00573261.
16. “End Citizens United Independent Expenditures.” OpenSecrets. Accessed September 12, 2018. https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/indexpend.php?cmte=C00573261&cycle=2016&txt=.
17. “End Citizens United Independent Expenditures.” OpenSecrets. Accessed September 12, 2018. https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/indexpend.php?cycle=2018&cmte=C00573261.
18. ^[1] “End Citizens United and Let America Vote Endorse Joe Biden for President – End Citizens United: We the People, Not ‘We the Wealthy.’” End Citizens United | We the People, Not “We the Wealthy”. End Citizens United, April 16, 2020. https://endcitizensunited.org/latest-news/press-releases/end-citizens-united-and-let-america-vote-endorse-joe-biden-for-president/.
19.  “End Citizens United PAC to Pac/Party.” OpenSecrets. Accessed November 2, 2022. https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/end-citizens-united/C00573261/pac-to-pac/2022.
20. “End Citizens United PAC to Pac/Party.” OpenSecrets. Accessed November 2, 2022. https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/end-citizens-united/C00573261/pac-to-pac/2022.
21. “End Citizens United PAC to Pac/Party.” OpenSecrets. Accessed November 2, 2022. https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/end-citizens-united/C00573261/pac-to-pac/2022.
22. “ECU Unveils 2022 ‘Big Money 20’ List of Most Corrupt Politicians – End Citizens United: We the People, Not ‘We the Wealthy.’” End Citizens United | We the People, Not “We the Wealthy”, October 24, 2022. https://endcitizensunited.org/latest-news/press-releases/ecu-unveils-2022-big-money-20-list-of-most-corrupt-politicians/.
23. Blumenthal, Paul. “This Group Raised $11 Million To Defeat Citizens United. So Why Do People Hate Them?” HuffPost UK. April 21, 2016. Accessed September 12, 2018. https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/end-citizens-united-pac-campaign-finance-reform_us_570e5308e4b0ffa5937da409.
24. “Move to Amend.” We the People, Not We the Corporations | Move to Amend. June 17, 2015. Accessed September 12, 2018. https://movetoamend.org/beware-group-end-citizens-united-pulling-your-chain.
25. Network, Action. “End Citizens United: End Citizens United.” The Action Network. Accessed September 12, 2018. https://actionnetwork.org/groups/end-citizens-united.
26. Ludwig, Hayden. “Former Politicos Cash in on Democratic Dreams.” Capital Research Center. September 7, 2018. Accessed September 11, 2018. https://capitalresearch.org/article/former-politicos-cash-in-on-democratic-dreams/.
27. “Expenditures.” OpenSecrets. Accessed September 10, 2018. https://www.opensecrets.org/expends/vendor.php?year=2016&vendor=Mothership Strategies.
28. “Expenditures.” OpenSecrets. Accessed September 10, 2018. https://www.opensecrets.org/expends/vendor.php?year=2018&vendor=Mothership Strategies.