Brand New Congress
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| Brand New Congress | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Crane, Mo. |
| Type: | Political action committee |
| Founder(s): | Zack Exley |
| Year founded: | 2016 |
| Website: | Official website |
Brand New Congress is a federal political action committee (PAC) established in 2016 with the aim of supporting more than 400 congressional candidates in the 2018 election cycle to install a newly-elected majority in Congress united behind a common policy platform. The PAC was founded by a group of former 2016 Bernie Sanders presidential campaign staffers led by Zach Exley.[1]
Mission
According to the organization's website, Brand New Congress has the following mission statement:
| “ | Brand New Congress is a campaign to run 400+ non-politician candidates for Congress in 2018 in one unified campaign behind one plan to rebuild the economy, repair our communities and radically reform our institutions.[1][2] | ” |
History
Brand New Congress was founded in April 2016 in Crane, Missouri, as a federal political action committee (PAC) by Zach Exley and a group of his fellow former 2016 Bernie Sanders presidential campaign staffers. The PAC was established with the goal of supporting more than 400 congressional candidates in the 2018 election cycle in order to oust who the group considers to be corporate-sponsored, career congressional members and install a newly-elected majority in Congress united behind a common policy platform.[1][3][4]
In order to gain the backing of Brand New Congress, candidates were required to embrace the PAC's platform, which is modeled on many of Sanders' progressive policies. Though the group emphasized the recruitment of new candidates, the PAC also backed sitting members of Congress who support the Brand New Congress platform. According to an interview with Zack Exley in The Huffington Post, the group planned to recruit candidates from across the political spectrum, depending on the district, in order to run competitive campaigns.[5]
"We want a supermajority in Congress that is fighting for jobs, criminal justice reform and the environment," Exley told The Huffington Post. "Most Americans actually want that, and I think we get it by running Dems in blue areas, Republicans in deep red areas, and by running independents wherever we didn’t defeat incumbents."[5]
Brand New Congress aimed to approach the 2018 congressional elections in the same manner as a nationwide presidential election. The group planned to run a united, nationwide campaign on behalf of the full candidate slate while also organizing grassroots outreach in order to allow candidates to focus on voter interaction rather than campaign management.[1]
Affiliates
Brand New Congress is affiliated with Justice Democrats, a federal PAC founded with the goal of remaking the Democratic Party by supporting 2018 congressional candidates who, according to the group's website, "represent people, not corporations."[6][7]
Work
Platform
In order to gain the backing of Brand New Congress, candidates must support the organization's platform, which includes the following public policy priorities:[8]
- Rebuild the economy
"To reverse this economic decline once and for all, we will kickstart new high-wage industries, modernize old industries, build a 100% renewable energy economy, repair our crumbling infrastructure and rebuild local communities." - Fix the healthcare mess
"There has always been a simple solution to our health care mess: cover everyone with Medicare." - End mass incarceration
"America imprisons more of its own people than any other nation in the world. Even as the crime rate is on a steady decline, incarceration rates continue to climb. Incarceration rates are skewed in favor of targeting minorities with longer sentences and higher arrest rates." - Fight for families
"American families are struggling. 40% of Americans face the impossible task of raising their families on less than $20,000 per year. Millions of young people’s lives are ruined by broken schools and a broken K-12 education system." - Clean up Washington D.C.
"We will reform our electoral system to create a more perfect democracy: This will include removing money from politics, getting rid of the electoral college, investigating alternative voting systems such as ranked-choice voting, and making election day a national holiday." - Reform our immigration system
"Our plan to reverse America’s economic decline and rebuild our country is going to demand huge numbers of new workers. Our economy will once again be begging for new immigrants. We believe that immigration makes America stronger — it always has." - Stop fighting reckless wars
"We must stop fighting reckless, costly wars and focus on keeping America safe. America has been a force for good in the world many times over. Unfortunately, careless and arrogant politicians have too often made America a force of reckless destruction around the world."
Political activity
- See also: PACs and Super PACs
As a nonconnected, multi-candidate political action committee (PAC), Brand New Congress is not affiliated with any corporations, labor unions, membership organizations or trade associations. The group raises funds from individuals who wish to contribute to the committee and disburses funds to support federal candidates according to federal contribution limits.
2020 elections
As of December 2019, Brand New Congress had endorsed three candidates for U.S. Senate and 26 candidates for U.S. House in 2020.[9]
The U.S. Senate endorsements were:
| Brand New Congress endorsed U.S. Senate candidates, 2020 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | State | Primary date | Incumbent |
| Kimberly Graham | Iowa | June 2, 2020 | Joni Ernst (R) |
| Paula Jean Swearengin | West Virginia | May 12, 2020 | Shelley Moore Capito (R) |
| Betsy Sweet | Maine | June 9, 2020 | Susan Collins (R) |
The U.S. House endorsements were:
2018 elections
Endorsed candidates
As of May 2017, Brand New Congress had endorsed the following 2018 congressional candidates:[10]
- Cori Bush (D), Missouri's 1st Congressional District
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D), New York's 14th Congressional District
- Anthony Clark (D), Illinois' 7th Congressional District
- Adrienne Bell (D), Texas' 14th Congressional District
- Michael Hepburn (D), Florida's 27th Congressional District
- Robb Ryerse (R), Arkansas' 3rd Congressional District
- Paula Jean Swearengin (D), U.S. Senate-West Virginia
Finances
As a nonconnected, multi-candidate political action committee (PAC), Brand New Congress raises funds from individuals who wish to contribute to the committee and disburses funds to support federal candidates in the following amounts:
- $5,000 to each candidate or candidate committee per election
- $15,000 to the national party committee per calendar year
- $5,000 (combined limit) to state, district and local party committee per calendar year
- $5,000 to any other political committee per calendar year[11]
According to the organization's 2016 year-end report to the Federal Election Commission. Brand New Congress raised $252,562.56 and disbursed $220,500.08 during the 2016 calendar year.[12]
Leadership
As of May 2017, the following individuals held leadership positions with Brand New Congress:[3][4]
- Zack Exley, Founder and treasurer
- Carrie Olson, Custodian of records
- Isra Allison, Volunteer leader
- Saikat Chakrabarti, Volunteer leader
- Mary Nishimuta, Volunteer leader
- Alexandra Rojas, Volunteer leader
- Nasim Thompson, Volunteer leader
- Corbin Trent, Volunteer leader
- Haley Zink, Volunteer leader
Noteworthy events
DCCC blacklist
On March 22, 2019, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) announced that it would no longer do business with firms who also worked with primary challengers to Democratic U.S. House members and encouraged House members' campaigns to do the same.[13]
In an interview with National Journal, Rep. James Clyburn (D) praised the policy change. He argued that the existing policy had been unfair because it meant that the DCCC was providing funds to firms who were working to oppose the re-election of dues-paying House Democrats. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D) criticized the policy on Twitter, calling it "extremely divisive & harmful to the party". She urged supporters to halt donations to the DCCC and give directly to candidates instead.[14]
Following the announcement, influencer groups opposed to the decision, including Justice Democrats, Democracy for America, and Our Revolution, launched DCCC Blacklist. The website's purpose is "to fight back and provide potential primary challengers with a database of go-to vendors, organizations, and consultants who will continue to support efforts to usher in a new generation of leaders into the Democratic Party."[15]
On March 9, 2021, the chairman of the DCCC, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D), reversed the policy. "This policy change means that the only criteria for a vendor to be listed in the directory are our standards for fair business practices," said Chris Taylor, a spokesman for Maloney.[16]
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Media
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Brand New Congress. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Brand New Congress, "The Plan," accessed May 25, 2017
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Federal Election Commission, "Statement of Organization—Brand New Congress," April 5, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Brand New Congress, "About us," accessed May 26, 2017
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Huffington Post, "Former Bernie Sanders Staffers Seek To Elect A ‘Brand New Congress,'" April 29, 2016
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Justice Democrats—Statement of Organization, amended," March 1, 2017
- ↑ Justice Democrats, "FAQ," accessed May 22, 2017
- ↑ Brand New Congress, "Platform," accessed May 26, 2017
- ↑ Brand New Congress, "Candidates," accessed December 2, 2019
- ↑ Brand New Congress, "Candidates," accessed May 26, 2017
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Quick Facts," accessed May 22, 2017
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Brand New Congress—Year-End Report 2016," January 18, 2017
- ↑ Huffington Post, "DCCC Promises To Blacklist Firms That Work With Candidates Challenging Incumbents," March 22, 2019
- ↑ The Hill, "Progressives hammer DCCC over blacklist targeting primary challenges," March 30, 2019
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 DCCC Blacklist, "Home," accessed September 19, 2022
- ↑ New York Times, "The D.C.C.C. Blacklist Is No More." March 31, 2021
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