La Mayoral Candidates Don’t Agree On Much: But They Both Support Proposition C

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March 14, 2013

Anjuli Kronheim (213) 623-1216

LA Mayoral Candidates don’t agree on much: but they both Support Proposition C

Candidates Support Instructing Congress to Overturn Citizens United and eliminate corporate personhood

Los Angeles – On May 21st, Los Angeles will be the largest electorate to date to vote on instructing their congressional representatives to work to overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision via Proposition C. Both mayoral candidates in the runoff, Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel, have affirmed their support for Proposition C which reads:

Shall the Voters adopt a resolution that there should be limits on political campaign spending and that corporations should not have the constitutional rights of human beings and instruct Los Angeles elected officials and area legislative representatives to promote that policy through amendments to the United States Constitution?

The Citizens United decision led to the most expensive election in history in 2012, with outside groups and Super PACS spending more than $1 billion, much of it coming from a handful of individuals and special interests. In the Los Angeles mayoral race during the primary, independent spending (that is, political spending that are technically not coordinated with candidate campaigns) accounted for about a quarter of all spending – approximately $3.2 million compared to candidate spending of approximately $9.3 million.

We believe the endorsement of both mayoral candidates of Proposition C will work to curb independent expenditure influence on local and national elections.

“In the March 5th primary, only 16% of registered voters turned out for the election. We think Proposition C will energize voters in Los Angeles giving them the chance to weigh in a major the national issue – how to curb the dominance of money in politics over the voices of voters. The Mayoral candidates and other local candidates getting the Yes on Prop C message out to voters will help stimulate participation in the local election,” said Kathay Feng, Executive Director of California Common Cause.

“The loudest voice in any election should be that of the people. Voting for this initiative says to the special interests – ‘Enough’s enough’,” said Eric Garcetti.

“Our democratic process is about giving a voice to the people and the issues that make a difference in their lives. When corporations participate in elections, they should have the same duties and obligations as people. Our collective voice as the second largest city in America sends a powerful message that this decision should be overturned,” said Wendy Greuel.

Thus far, in states, cities and counties across the US, voters who have had the opportunity to weigh in at the ballot box to overturn Citizens United have passed measures with greater than 70% support. Polling indicates 9 out of 10 Americans think corporations have too much influence in our elections and 8 out of 10 support overturning Citizens United.

Visit: www.yesonpropositionc.com for more information.