Candidates Committed to Turning Down Special Interest Money

We'll update this page as we hear from candidates who are committed to running their campaigns without taking any money other than contributions from individuals.  If you know a PAC-free candidate you'd like to draw our attention to, please email Owen@CleanSlateNowAction.org to let us know.

The following candidates and elected officials have shared on their website their commitment to run their campaigns with no special interest money.  Our reporting and analysis confirms that these candidates are only accepting funds from individuals.

Statewide Offices

 Governor Jared Polis (Colorado)

U.S. Senate Candidates

Andrew Romanoff (candidate, Colorado)

Congressional Races

Congressman Ro Khanna, U.S. Congress, California's 17th Congressional District

Congressman John Sarbanes, U.S. Congress, Marlyand's 3rd Congressional District

State Legislative Races

Municipal Offices

Councilman Paul Kashmann, Denver City Council District 6

 We ran over 100 reports on candidates running for office in 2018, documenting exactly where their money comes from and which special interests they're beholden to (if any).  Look under our "Reports" tab on the menu at the top of the page to go to a particular current race, or look for "Archived Reports" under the "More" tab in the menu for past elections.

These additional candidates and elected officials have reported raising money for their campaigns and have not reported accepting any special interest money, through the most recent campaign finance reporting period.  To our knowledge, they have not committed to turning down special interest money, but they're on the right track.  Please encourage them to commit to running their campaigns without taking any special interest contributions.

Jared Polis, Colorado Governor

Phil Weiser, Colorado Attorney General

Congressman Francis Rooney, U.S. Congress, Florida's 19th Congressional District 

Maria Orms, Candidate for Colorado State Senator, Senate District 31

Steve Paletz, Candidate for Colorado State Representative, House District 6

Scott Baldermann, Denver Public Schools Board of Directors, District 1

"Running for office has been an intense and humbling experience. Fundraising has been the hardest part of this process. I already believed in campaign finance reform prior to running for office.

"This campaign has been beset with hurdles of overcoming opponents that were backed by union for their ability to self-fund and by opponents who have received large donations from interests aligned with the purpose of undermining public education.

"While Citizen’s United is the law of the land, corporations are not people. The people within corporations already have a voice and a vote- often influenced by the corporate leaders. To give corporations their own “individual” voice gives them disproportionate say and influence on our elections. Further, money is not the same as voice. Money is more like a megaphone that amplifies certain voices. We need to curb the influence of the big money donors and to allow the people’s voice to be heard.

"I also noticed a tendency on my part to check my individual donations to see who donated to me. This should not influence the person running for office and yet, it is also another potential source of cronyism and bias. Public financing of elections and curbing entirely the need for individual donations, from corporations, political action committees and people, would allow elected officials to not be biased in the access and attention they grant."  -- Radhika Nath, Candidate for Denver Public Schools Board of Directors, District 1

"My top priorities are focused on the results seen and felt in the classroom, but, I will support these financial efforts."  --Tony Curcio, Candidate for Denver Public Schools Board of Directors, District 5