Mayday PAC

Lawrence Lessig in 2008

Mayday PAC is an American crowd-funded non-partisan Super PAC created by Harvard Law School professor and activist Lawrence Lessig. Its purpose is to help elect candidates to the Congress to pass campaign finance reform.[1] It is notable for raising large sums from numerous contributors in a short span of time[2][3][4] – nearly $11 million in 2014[5] – and was described in the Los Angeles Times as the "super PAC to end all super PACs."[6] The group spent over $10 million in the November 2014 elections, but its strategic plan of electing candidates friendly to campaign finance reform failed.[7][8]

In August 2015, shortly before announcing his candidacy for President of the United States, Lessig resigned from the PAC and was replaced by board member Zephyr Teachout. Teachout left the post in December 2015 when she announced she was running for Congress in New York State and was replaced by Cyrus Patten, longtime anti-corruption advocate and policy reformer.[9]

Mayday PAC has since announced a new, local approach, citing "Across the country, citizens are passing reforms to their local campaign finance laws. This takes courage that is currently lacking in Congress."[10]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYTimes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference July-4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Mayday-FAQ1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference NBCNews was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference mayday_donor_data was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference MaeveReston was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "The Super PAC to end Super PACs makes a strategic retreat". Bloomberg News. March 17, 2015. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
  8. ^ Tau, Byron; Vogel, Kenneth (November 6, 2014). "How to waste $10 million". Politico. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  9. ^ "www.cyruspatten.com".
  10. ^ "The Plan: A Critical Mass of Reformers". Retrieved April 19, 2016.