Anti-super PAC group gets new leader
Former New York gubernatorial candidate Zephyr Teachout will take the reigns of the super-PAC meant to advocate for the destruction of all super-PACs, the group announced Monday.
She’ll replace Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig, who is an avowed supporter of campaign finance reform, as CEO of Mayday PAC.
“Private financing of elections is the enemy of democracy. Americans know it, but politicians are far too silent and like to deflect the conversation elsewhere,” she said in a statement.
“At Mayday, we directly confront power and corruption and refuse to allow the plague of silence and lip-treatment to propagate fundamental corruption.”
Teachout praised Lessig’s “extraordinary legacy [that] includes his lack of fear.”
“We will speak out against silence and corruption in the 2016 election starting today,” she added.
Lessig started the crowd-funded super-PAC in 2014 to destroy its own kind, the “super-PAC to end all super-PAcs.” While it raised more than $11 million during the cycle, the group lost most of the races it played in.
This time around, both Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) are touting campaign finance reform on the trail, with Sanders going the extra step of refusing to bless any super-PAC.
Before joining Mayday, Teachout ran an underdog campaign against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) but lost by almost 30 points.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed..