Dear John:
In the 10 years since the disastrous Citizens United decision opened the door for unlimited campaign spending, more than $1 billion has flooded our political system.
A lot of this money is completely unaccountable. In most of the country, we don’t know WHO is spending it, or WHY.
But here in New York City, we fought to end unaccountable money in politics -- and we won. In 2014, I led the charge to create the strongest independent expenditure disclosure laws in the country.
And today, I introduced an amendment to expand that law to ensure that the same transparency applies to spending on ballot propositions.
Our law says that if you spend more than $5,000 to influence city elections, you have to tell the public who you are and who is funding you. And guess what? It’s working!
In fact, The New York Times reported in 2017 that “Outside money has been almost nonexistent,” an enormous drop from $16 million four years earlier.
Can I show you one of my favorite parts from that Times report?
For one, new city legislation after the last election imposed rules on outside spending, including that advertisements and mailings show not only the name of the outside group paying for the message, but also the group’s top funders. That caused consternation among some potential donors, particularly among real estate interests.
Not only am I the only candidate in this race NOT taking real estate money; I passed the law that made it harder for them to use their wealth and influence to pick our city’s leaders.
We have a lot of work left to do to level the playing field so that no one’s voice is drowned out by special interests.
Anything you can give is greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for your support,
-- Brad
P.S. Want to learn more about our new disclosure bill? Read and share this article from Gotham Gazette.
