REPORT FROM MAZIE HIRONO’S US SENATE CAMPAIGN – In response to Republicans’ latest effort to block increased transparency for shadowy outside groups, US Senate candidate Mazie Hirono issued the following statement:
“I strongly believe there should be increased transparency in the financial disclosures of SuperPACs and corporations should have to stand behind the political ads they fund. We need the DISCLOSE Act to prevent the bankrolling of elections by special interest groups who end up calling the shots for their candidates once they are in office. Organizations like American Crossroads, spearheaded by Karl Rove, have raised more than $244 million for their chosen Republican candidates, while special interest groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have spent $137 million dollars including half a million in advertising buys here in Hawaii for Republican Linda Lingle. These kinds of expenditures to help their chosen candidates defeat their opponents is unprecedented in the history of our country and represents a serious threat to how elections are run here,” said Hirono.
She added, “If elected, would Linda Lingle stand with her Republican leadership in the Senate and vote against campaign spending transparency or do right by the American people and say no to protecting secret special interest backers.”
The DISCLOSE Act is in response to the Supreme Court decision Citizens United which unleashed secret spending by big corporations and special interest groups to influence elections. The Act focuses on requiring outside groups to disclose campaign-related fundraising and spending and promotes transparency.
U.S. Senate candidate Mazie Hirono voted for the DISCLOSE Act in 2010 and recently co-sponsored a discharge petition in the House to bring the DISCLOSE Act to the House floor for a vote.