A freshman Democratic congressman has raked in tens of thousands of dollars from political action committees tied to corporations despite pledging to refuse corporate cash, records show.
Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI) vowed on the campaign trail in 2022 “never to take a dime of corporate PAC money.”
“We need to ensure our government is focused on improving the day to day lives of everyday Americans, not the privileged few,” Thanedar said at the time. But since entering the halls of Congress, Thanedar has hummed a different tune. At least $36,000 flowed to his campaign combined from PACs for Google, Pfizer, Walmart, Verizon, Toyota, Lockheed Martin, and other corporations, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
“These contributions make up less than 1% of my overall campaign funds,” Thanedar told the Detroit News. The lawmaker said in a statement to the outlet published Sunday that he is “committed to public financing of campaigns” and supports overturning the 2010 Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission — which paved the way for unlimited spending from outside groups on independent expenditures, or advertising.
Thanedar’s willingness to accept the donations will likely open him up to hypocrisy charges from his Democratic primary opponents, and also Republicans, who have long slammed left-wing candidates for pocketing corporate-tied money after making anti-corporate campaign promises. He is facing primary challenges from multiple Democrats, including entrepreneur Adam Hollier, in a deep blue district that includes portions of Detroit.
Hollier has also accepted corporate PAC money from Truist Financial, Flagstar Bank, and other PACs tied to corporations. Thanedar’s other primary opponent, Detroit City Council member Mary Waters, has not yet filed a report.
Thanedar, who served one term in Michigan’s state House, said in April 2022 that he’s “seen firsthand the corrupting influence of special interest groups and lobbyists” and “watched my colleagues vote against people in favor of special interests and corporations that contribute to them.”
“I absolutely reject corporate PAC money!” Thanedar told a user on social media in March 2022.
Still, months later, checks started flooding into his campaign committee from corporate PACs. AT&T pushed $3,000 to Thanedar in November 2022, and Toyota gave him $1,000 in February 2023. Soon after, Delta Air Lines sent Thanedar $1,000, among other corporate donations.
Thanedar is hardly alone among Democrats who have said one thing and done another when it comes to corporate PAC money.
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The Washington Examiner reported that Reps. Jared Golden (D-ME), Mike Levin (D-CA), and Chris Pappas (D-NH), who co-sponsored the Ban Corporate PACs Act, have long taken cash from leadership PACs funded by corporations.
Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) has also proposed banning corporate PACs. However, she’s accepted donations since 2017 from corporate-funded leadership PACs, the Washington Examiner reported.