Members Take on Koch Brothers

SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO — Common Cause members are making their voices heard as the battle here heats up over secret money and citizen-funded elections that shift power from wealthy special interests to the people, where it belongs.

In a coordinated effort, three secret money spenders that have collectively received well over $100 million from the Koch brothers are aggressively fighting new regulations championed by Common Cause that would give New Mexico voters the right to know who is behind the huge independent expenditures expected in the 2018 state elections.

These deceptively named Koch brothers front groups — The Center for Competitive Politics, Americans for Prosperity, and Concerned Veterans of America — don’t want the public to be able to follow the money behind candidates and issues on the ballot. They don’t want a level playing field. And they certainly don’t want the common sense reforms we helped craft to be enacted.

But Common Cause members are not backing down. They’re mobilizing transparency advocates from across the state to speak up for reform by signing petitions, attending hearings, and writing, calling, and emailing comments to the office of New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver.

This is just one of many battles we can expect all across the country as the 2018 election cycle gets underway. The Koch brothers may have bottomless pockets, but we have members in every congressional district in the country ready to stand up against the influence of big money in our elections.

1 Million Strong 

THE KOCH BROTHERS may have billions of dollars, but we have more than one million voices.

Just in time for our 47th birthday, Common Cause hit a milestone: 1 million Members and activists.

That means you have one of the largest and strongest national networks of citizen activists by your side, who feel as you do, and who, as Republicans, Democrats, small party or none at all, are working together for transparency, accountability, and a democracy that works for all of us, not just wealthy special interests. 

Together, there is virtually no limit to how effective we can be.