Political Action Committee

Democracy is in crisis. We need leadership in place to protect democracy long term.

The inaugural set of Public Wise endorsements include six candidates across the country with the potential to have an outsized role in 2024

The endorsements include:

  • Attorney General Josh Shapiro, Democratic nominee for Pennsylvania Governor
  • Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, Democratic nominee for Ohio’s 9th Congressional District
  • Adrian Fontes, Democratic nominee for Arizona Secretary of State
  • Representative Bee Nyguen, Democratic nominee for Georgia Secretary of State
  • Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a candidate seeking the Democratic nomination for Michigan Secretary of State
  • City Councilor Izzy Smith-Wade-El, Democratic nominee for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, District 49

“Now more than ever, we need to support elected officials who intend to root out white supremacist and extremist ideals and have a solid record of defending democracy.  The candidates Public Wise is supporting are facing challengers who had direct involvement in the January 6th Insurrection, who will no doubt bring more dangerous ideals to office if elected.” said Christina Baal-Owens, Executive Director of Public Wise. “We need leadership in place to protect elections in the long term, and we hope that in supporting these candidates, we can achieve that goal.”

Public Wise’s endorsement process began by looking for geographically contained legislative races where a clear champion of democracy is facing off against an individual who participated in the Capitol Insurrection in a likely close race, as well as state races where Public Wise already has supported strong grassroots movements. By supporting these key races across the nation, Public Wise hopes to ensure that those who played a role in extremist acts that led to The Capitol Insurrection do not hold public office.

Public Wise has been active in calling for accountability after the violent insurrection on January 6, 2021 by launching the Insurrection Index earlier this year. The Insurrection Index holds over 1660 records of individuals and organizations in public trust who played a role in the insurrection to hold these actors accountable.

For more information, email pac@publicwise.org.