StatementAccountability

20+ Voting Rights Leaders and Organizations Call for RNC and DNC to End All Support to Insurrectionists Running for Public Office

05.24.2022 Public Wise

At least 160 individuals who planned, promoted and participated in the events surrounding January 6th are running for public office in 2022

 

MEDIA CONTACT

Addie Bullock

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Public Wise, a voting rights organization which works to secure a government that reflects the will and protects the rights of the people, sent a letter to the Democratic National Committee, Republican National Committee, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, and National Republican Senatorial Congressional Committee calling for all organizational and financial party support to insurrectionists, including incumbents, running for public office in 2022 and beyond to cease immediately. 

“Supporting candidates who planned, promoted, attended and continue to cover up the assault on our country is unethical and un-American. The Republican and Democratic parties have a moral and historic obligation to keep insurrectionists out of public office and must end all support for these candidates,” said Christina Baal-Owens, Executive Director of Public Wise. “The same people who attempted to steal a free and fair election are attacking LGBTQIA+ families, overturning Roe v. Wade and refusing to denounce white supremacy and the ‘replacement theory.’ There is nothing more politically important than protecting our democracy and the voice of the American people at the ballot box.” 

Public Wise and twenty-one individual advocates and voting rights and democracy organizations are calling for the Democratic and Republican National Committees and all affiliated bodies to immediately halt all support to any candidates in national, state and local elections that were present at the insurrection or the “Stop the Steal” rally, voted against certification, were alternate electors or continue to undermine the will of the people by spreading disinformation about the results of the 2020 presidential election. Signatories to the letter include Working Families Party, Mi Familia Vota, Way to Win, and Womens Donors Network. 

“January 6th will forever be a stain on our country’s history. Our democracy is the cornerstone of our country’s greatness. Mi Familia Vota’s core mission is to engage the Latino community, to educate them to participate in the democratic process. Shame on anyone who would join in attacking our Capitol, who would try to overturn an election. We are proud to join Public Wise in calling for all organizational and financial party support to insurrectionists, including incumbents, running for public office in 2022 and beyond to cease immediately. We must protect our democracy; we must hold those who were a part of this heinous attack accountable,” said Carlos Duarte, Chief Development Officer of Mi Familia Vota. 

“In the 2022 elections, extremist candidates like Doug Mastriano are seeking to tear up our social fabric by enacting unpopular, anti-democratic policies. Mastriano and candidates like him want to get rid of our right to access reproductive healthcare, eliminate protections for LGBTQIA+ Americans and voting rights,” said Tory Gavito, president and co-founder of Way to Win. “We must rally together to prevent Mastriano from ever assuming public office. Otherwise, Mastriano and insurrectionist candidates like him nationwide will break our democracy from the inside out.”

“American democracy depends on the people leading our government believing in, and acting upon the principles of our country – including free and fair elections and a peaceful transition of power. The January 6th insurrection was a horrific and tragic moment in American history, and no national political committee should endorse that horrific attack on our democracy by funding candidates who were present at, or supported efforts to subvert the legitimate election of President Joe Biden. Our democracy depends on it,” said Robert Greenwald, President of Brave New Films.

“We’re appreciative of Public Wise Foundation’s leadership on this critical issue,” said Donna Hall, President of the Women Donors Network. “Insurrectionists have no place in the halls of Congress and we can no longer stay silent. We must act.”

The deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol was a coordinated attempt to overthrow democracy planned and funded by the highest levels of the Trump administration and sitting members of Congress. At least 160 individuals who attended, planned, funded or promoted the events leading up to January 6th are running for public office in 2022.

 

About Public Wise

Persistent and unyielding in our commitment to a just multiracial democracy, Public Wise fights to secure a government that reflects the will and protects the rights of the people.

We accomplish this through education, research, organizing, funding, and partnerships that support more voting and more equitable representation.