As we often say at Issue One, reducing the influence of money in politics is not a partisan cause; it’s an all-American one. Enter Take Back Our Republic, a nonprofit focused on making the case to conservatives that reform should be on the top of their minds at the ballot box.
Executive Director John Pudner’s claim to fame was helping long shot Virginia candidate David Brat unseat then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor last year. Now, he’s fighting for conservative solutions to encourage participation in democracy. His op-ed in an Oklahoma newspaper explains, “Conservatives across the country, particularly here in Ohio, have an opportunity to highlight a bottom-up approach to a problem more and more Americans are recognizing.”
His preferred solution? Tax credits for small donors who want to contribute to political campaigns. As he puts it, “Grassroots candidates have an opportunity to make the case to those for whom a check would be otherwise hard to write. The candidates and the individuals benefit, by participating AND receiving a tax credit and, more importantly, our democracy benefits.”
