End Citizens United (ECU), a leading national anti-corruption organization, today endorsed Shannon Taylor in Virginia’s 1st Congressional District. In addition to the endorsement, Taylor is joining ECU’s Unrig Washington program for candidates who reject corporate PAC money, support a ban on congressional stock trading, and work to end dark money in politics.

“Congressman Wittman has spent nearly two decades profiting from stock trades, protecting his special interest donors, and playing by a different set of rules. He represents the worst of Washington corruption,” said End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller. “Shannon Taylor is running to end that. Her experience as a prosecutor and her refusal to take any corporate PAC money reflect the values of accountability, reform, and public service that our corruption-plagued government desperately needs. We’re proud to endorse Shannon, and we look forward to helping her flip this seat.”

“As Henrico's top prosecutor, I have dedicated the past 15 years to keeping my community safe. From achieving an over 90% homicide conviction rate to taking on fraudsters and getting drugs off our streets, we have made Henrico safer. Now, another threat is harming Virginians: the culture of corruption in Washington. Politicians from both parties have failed us—they vote to protect themselves and their special interest donors, causing our prices to rise. That's why I'm running for Congress: to take that corruption head-on by passing term limits, mandating jail time for members of Congress who steal taxpayer funds, and banning congressional stock trading. I am grateful for ECU's endorsement as we fight to lower costs, defeat Rob Wittman, and make Congress serve the people first,” said Shannon Taylor.

Taylor has made cleaning up corruption in Washington and holding politicians accountable a defining issue of her campaign. She supports banning members of Congress from trading stocks, ending the lobbyist revolving door, and strengthening accountability for elected officials who abuse public office. Taylor is also part of ECU’s Unrig Washington program, where she joins over 240 Democratic candidates in rejecting corporate PAC money, supporting a ban on congressional stock trading, and cracking down on dark money in politics. Learn more about the campaign here.

Rep. Wittman represents everything Virginians hate about our politics. He has accepted a staggering $3.3 million in corporate PAC money over his career, including $2 million from the defense industry while serving as Vice Chair of the House Armed Services Committee. He has a 15-year record of opposing legislation that would bring down health care costs, voting instead to enrich the greedy corporations that fund his campaign. His votes in Congress have also greatly benefited his own stock portfolio, which contains tens of thousands of dollars worth of investments in pharmaceutical and Big Tech companies. Rep. Wittman also received an F on ECU’s Anti-Corruption Scorecard for the 119th Congress. 

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For 10 Years, End Citizens United (ECU) has been dedicated to combating the two biggest challenges facing our democracy: the corrosive impact of Big Money in politics and attempts to block access to the ballot box. Since its founding in 2015, ECU has had over 1.4 million donors with an average donation of just $14. The group has more than four million members nationwide and is one of the nation’s leading anti-corruption organizations.