RepresentUs

The advocacy work is supported by a national network of volunteer-led chapters. Each chapter is led by local volunteers, who organize public education and engagement activities to build support for local anti-corruption initiatives.[5] RepresentUs has more than 40 local chapters across the United States, including chapters in Tallahassee, Florida; Rockford, Illinois; Roanoke Valley; and New Orleans.[6]

Represent San Francisco, a volunteer-led RepresentUs chapter based in San Francisco, California

Funding for RepresentUs comes from individual donations and grants from philanthropic foundations. It does not accept money from governments, intergovernmental organizations, political parties, or corporations so that it avoids their influence. RepresentUs lists its donors on its website.[7]

The American Anti-Corruption Act (AACA) is a piece of model legislation designed to limit the influence of money in American politics by overhauling lobbying, transparency, and campaign finance laws.

It was written by former Federal Election Commission Commissioner Trevor Potter, in consultation with Professor Lawrence Lessig and other constitutional lawyers and scholars.[8] Its authors maintain that the legislation is fully constitutional and compatible with the Supreme Court's decision Citizens United v. FEC and subsequent federal court rulings.[9]

Its stated goals are the following:[8]

1. "Stop political bribery, making it illegal for politicians to accept money from the special interests they regulate."
2. "End secret money, making political spending public and transparent so Americans can know who's buying influence in the election process."
3. "Give every voter a voice, changing how elections are funded by moving toward small-dollar, voter funded campaigns."

Represent George Mason, a volunteer-led RepresentUs chapter at George Mason University

RepresentUs members supported 13 successful state and local Anti-Corruption Acts and Resolutions in the 2016 election:[10]

• South Dakota Initiated Measure 22 (IM-22) — An anti-corruption initiative backed by local ballot committee South Dakotans for Integrity and supported by grassroots RepresentUs members. IM-22 is the most sweeping political reform package ever passed at the statewide ballot. The measure overhauls state campaign finance laws, bans secret, unlimited gifts from lobbyists to politicians, requires greater transparency of political money, and toughens state ethics law enforcement.[11][12]
• 2016 Maine Question 5 — Establishes a ranked choice voting system for statewide elections in Maine.[13]
• Missouri Amendment 2 — Limits individual contributions to candidates for state or judicial office to $2,600 per election and to political parties to $25,000. Prior to the passage of Amendment 2, Missouri had no limits on donations by individuals and corporations to candidates and political parties.[14]
• Rhode Island Question 2 — Restores the state ethics commission's constitutional authority to police ethics violations by members of the General Assembly.[15]
• Washington Initiative 735 — A statewide call to overturn Citizens United v. FEC[16]
• California Proposition 59 — A statewide call to overturn Citizens United v. FEC[17]

• San Francisco, California, Proposition T (Prop T) — A city proposition that bans gifts from lobbyists to elected officials and prohibits lobbyists from contributing to officials and candidates and lobbyists from bundling contributions.[18]
• Berkeley, California, Measure X1 — Encourages candidates to limit contributions to their campaigns to no more than $50 per person and only from Berkeley residents. Measure X1 then rewards these candidates with six dollars of public financing for every one dollar they raise in small contributions from Berkeley residents.[19]
• Howard County, Maryland, Question A — An amendment to the county charter that enables the county council to establish the Citizens Election Fund and small donor campaign finance system for county council and county executive races.[20]
• Benton County, Oregon, Measue 2-100 — Establishes a ranked choice voting system for local elections.[21]
• Multnomah County, Oregon, Measure 26-184 — Limits contributions from individuals and PACs to $500, limits independent spending, and requires disclosure of true original sources of principal funders of political ads.[22]
• Boone County, Illinois, Anti-Corruption Resolution — A ballot question calling on local and federal officials to pass anti-corruption reforms based on the American Anti-Corruption Act.[23]
• McHenry County, Illinois, Anti-Corruption Resolution — A ballot question calling on local and federal officials to pass anti-corruption reforms based on the American Anti-Corruption Act.[24]

City and state Anti-Corruption Acts are modeled after the American Anti-Corruption Act, whose provisions serve as a model for state and local law. They are initiated by local RepresentUs chapters, which receive technical and organizational support from national campaign staff.[25] Voters in Tallahassee, Florida,[26] and Seattle, Washington,[27] have approved reform legislation based on the Act.

Anti-Corruption Resolutions are public mandates demonstrating support for Anti-Corruption Acts by the electorate. Anti-Corruption Resolutions have been passed in the following locales:

• Princeton, New Jersey[28]
• Genoa, Illinois[29]
• Massachusetts State House District 2
• Massachusetts State Senate District 19
• Ewing Township, New Jersey[30]
• DeKalb County, Illinois[31]
• Winnebago County, Illinois[31]
• Roanoke, Virginia[32]

RepresentUs volunteers in Washington, D.C.

RepresentUs members and partners supported these anti-corruption campaigns in 2018:

• Colorado Amendments Y&Z — Two Anti-Gerrymandering reform initiatives that create a 12-member independent commission for congressional districts in the case of Amendment Y, and for state legislative districts with Amendment Z.[33]
• Michigan Proposal 2 — An anti-gerrymandering reform initiative spearheaded by activist Katie Fahey beginning in 2016. Proposal 2 creates an impartial citizen commission for both congressional and state legislative districts. [34]
• Missouri Amendment 1 — Also known as the "Clean Missouri" amendment, Missouri Amendment 1 is an anti-gerrymandering reform initiative that creates a nonpartisan position called "The State Demographer" to draw state legislative district lines on the basis of partisan fairness and competitiveness. [35]
• Ohio Issue 1 — An anti-gerrymandering initiative that forces bipartisan agreement on the drawing of congressional district lines, as well as increasing transparency and partisan fairness within the district drawing process. [36]
• Utah Proposition 4 — A ballot measure that creates a 7-member independent redistricting commission to draft maps for both congressional and state legislative districts. Proposition 4 increases transparency by requiring communication, inclusion, and the releasing of draft plans to the public. Additionally, the ballot measure grants voters the ability to sue in order to block plans that do not adhere to the specific requirements of Proposition 4.[37]
• Massachusetts Question 2 — A ballot initiative that created a 15-member citizens commission to study the effects of Citizens United, specifically regarding corporate personhood in relation to their inalienable constitutional rights and their effect on political spending.[38]
• Maine Question 1 — A people's veto referendum that protected Ranked Choice Voting through overturning sections of Legislative Document 1646, which sought to repeal and delay the implementation of ranked choice voting, as put forth by 2016 referendum Maine Question 5 on the basis of constitutional conflicts.[39][40]

In 2014, voters in Tallahassee, Florida, approved a city charter amendment modeled after the AACA. The law established a city ethics commission,[41] imposed stricter contribution limits on candidates for city office, and created a public financing system. The initiative passed with the support of a politically diverse coalition of local advocates, including the Chair of the Florida Tea Party Network, the former President of the Florida League of Women Voters, the Chairman of Florida Common Cause, and a former Democratic County Commissioner.[26]

The new ethics laws put in place by the Tallahassee Anti-Corruption Act limit campaign contributions to city candidates to $250 per donor, provide each voter with a tax rebate of up to $25 to contribute to the candidate of their choice, enact an ethics code that includes conflict-of-interest policies, and establish an ethics board to enforce the rules.[26]

Gil Fulbright is a satirical presidential candidate created by RepresentUs designed to bring attention to corruption.[42] Played by actor Frank Ridley, Gil ran a fake Senate campaign in Kentucky in 2014.[43] In 2016, the character announced a run for president of the United States.

Gil Fulbright's presidential launch video garnered over 1 million views in less than 24 hours.[44] Fulbright went on to beat several real candidates in a 2016 presidential straw poll,[45] and out-fundraised Democratic presidential candidate Lincoln Chafee.[46]

In June 2020, RepresentUs launched a campaign focused on highlighting various problems in America's criminal justice system. Actor Omar Epps and voting rights activist Desmond Meade narrate a video aimed at educating the public about these problems.[47]