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A political action committee created by Harvard Law professor Lawrence Lessig to back candidates opposed to cronyism in campaign finance, reached its $5 million crowdfunding goal on the last day of its campaign. The successful fundraising means a group of wealthy donors, including Silicon Valley biggies, will kick in a matching contribution of another $5 million, bringing the PAC’s total war chest including an initial round of fundraising to $12 million.
The Mayday PAC, backed by tech heavyweights such as venture capitalist Fred Wilson and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, aims to shine a light on the control that wealthy individuals and big-money interest groups have on political campaigns. More than 45,000 people contributed money to the PAC.
The next step is for the PAC to use the money to help elect Congresspeople who will carry the same message forward in their own campaigns, and hopefully Congress next. Yes, Mayday sought out contributions from wealthy folks to fight against the impact that wealthy folks have on campaigns for public office. “Yes. Embrace the irony,” read a message on Mayday PAC site.
“We've got lots of ideas about how to make this work,” Lessig wrote in a letter posted to Mayday’s site on Friday. “We'll be testing them and improving them and building lots that's new. But you've raised the money. It's time to get down to work. So stay tuned.”
Other Mayday supporters include Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel and Chris Anderson of TED.
