Latest News
“There’s an over-whelming cynicism of the American people in their government caused by the feeling that Congress has been corrupted by special interest money.”
- Warren RudmanFormer Senator from New Hampshire
ACR Chair
Recent Press Releases
Response to Supreme Court Decision on Arizona
Tuesday, June 28th, 2011
McComish Release
ACR Chairs Call for End to Special Interest Funding of Campaigns
Thursday, April 7th, 2011
Former Senators Bill Bradley (D-NJ), Alan Simpson (R-NH), Bob Kerrey (D-NE), and Warren Rudman (R-NH), co-chairs of Americans for Campaign Reform (ACR), joined Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and actor Alec Baldwin in calling for a sweeping overhaul of congressional campaign finance today.
Bipartisan Former Senators Urge Court to Uphold 1st Amendment Constitutionality
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011
WASHINGTON, DC – Former Senators Larry Pressler (R-S.D.) and Timothy Wirth (D-Colo.), amici in the Supreme Court case of McComish v. Bennett, today attended oral arguments in the case and spoke to press outside the Court on the importance of upholding the free speech constitutionality of Arizona’s voluntary public funding law as a precedent for other states and the federal government.
ACR Files Amicus Brief with Supreme Court
Friday, March 4th, 2011
WASHINGTON, DC – A bipartisan committee of former U.S. Senators, Representatives, and Governors representing Americans for Campaign Reform today filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court case of McComish v. Bennett defending the constitutionality of voluntary public funding of state elections in Arizona.
Election Analysis: 2010 Midterm Bankrolled By Less Than 1% Of Americans Representing K Street, Wall Street Special Interests
Wednesday, January 26th, 2011
CONCORD, NH – Americans for Campaign Reform (ACR) today released a study of campaign contributions in the 2010 midterm election showing an extreme concentration of giving at the top, according to campaign finance disclosures newly released by the FEC. The data show that less than one out of 400 Americans, most of them affiliated with major corporate interests, made itemized donations ($200 or more) to federal candidates or PACs in 2010, a drop of 50% since 2008 and the lowest level in at least ten years in spite of record spending. The research does not cover the estimated $300 million in independent expenditure campaigns financed by unlimited and often undisclosed private donations.
Election Analysis: In Spite Of Record Spending In 2010, Money Did Not ‘Buy’ House Elections
Wednesday, January 26th, 2011
CONCORD, NH – Americans for Campaign Reform (ACR) today released an analysis of candidate, party and independent spending in 2010 House races which challenges conventional wisdom that money is the determining factor in candidate success. The bipartisan reform group, which is chaired by former U.S. Senators Bill Bradley (D-NJ), Bob Kerrey (D-NE), Warren Rudman (R-NH), and Alan Simpson (R-WY), argued that changing the source of money is necessary to restoring confidence in government, not changing the amount. ACR advocates for a broad-based system of citizen-funded congressional and presidential elections.
As House Committee Takes Historic Vote, Former Members of Congress Urge Full House Passage of the Most Sweeping Election Reform Since Watergate
Thursday, September 23rd, 2010
The Committee on House Administration today approved the Fair Elections Now Act, paving the way for the full House of Representatives to vote on the most sweeping legislative response to special interest money in politics in more than 30 years. The action was hailed by both Republican and Democratic former Members of Congress who gathered in Washington today for the purpose of advancing Fair Elections.
House Panel Schedules Historic Vote On Ending Special Interest Funding Of Congressional Elections
Friday, September 17th, 2010
Eight months after the Citizens United ruling, the Committee on House Administration announced today that it would take up and vote on the Fair Elections Now Act, a sweeping overhaul of congressional campaign finance and the strongest reform measure to advance in Congress since the Watergate era. The measure, scheduled for mark-up on September 23rd, is supported by nearly 200 cosponsors in the U.S. House and Senate and by Americans for Campaign Reform (ACR), a bipartisan group of former U.S. Senators and Members of Congress.