"PAYOFF PAYBACK" Marks Mile 1 of a Marathon

Today, in response to Democrats seizing control of the US House in yesterday's midterm elections, the Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires Morris Pearl released the following statement:

"Yesterday, Americans made it clear that they will not sit by and watch as the donor class rigs our government and our economy against working people in favor of the ultra-rich. This election was payback for the payoff that Republican politicians delivered to their corporate donors and billionaires through their total re-write of the federal tax code last year.

According to Republicans, our country works best when the investor class pays half the tax rate of people who actually work for a living, when heirs to millions of dollars contribute nothing to the cost of running the country, and when politicians give corporations a financial incentive to move American jobs overseas. Voters - and the Patriotic Millionaires - disagree.

The only regret we have about this election is that we were not able to defeat every single one of the Republican politicians who sold out the nation's future to the political donor class.

Not only did Republican politicians admit publicly that they were passing one of the worst pieces of legislation in modern history in order to placate their donors, they had the audacity to claim they passed the legislation in order to create jobs, going so far as to launch some ridiculous national "Job Creators" tour complete with a bus.

Americans may be working two jobs to make ends meet (because these same Republican politicians refuse to raise the minimum wage), but they aren't too busy to call bologna when they see it. Neither are the Patriotic Millionaires. We've never endorsed candidates before this cycle, but after watching the Republican Congress pass their atrocious tax bill, we saw no other choice.

We spent this entire cycle teaching candidates how to explain to voters that rigging the economy starts with rigging the tax code. We make no bones about it. The donor class owns the Republican party and together they have conspired to create an economy that delivers all of its benefits to billionaires and corporate CEOs.

We are absolutely delighted that our efforts and those of our allies and endorsed candidates worked. Republican politicians almost completely avoided talking about their tax bill on the campaign trail. Their single landmark piece of legislation, the only serious legislative accomplishment Republicans had to show for two years of total control of Washington, became politically toxic. What many Republican strategists once thought would be the centerpiece of their reelection campaigns became reviled by voters as yet another example of a Congress that works for its wealthy donors, not for the people. It's reassuring to see that despite millions spent on high-profile ad buys and rebranding campaigns to sell the tax bill to the American people, voters saw through the GOP's deception and recognized the tax bill for the scam that it was, and we believe the group of strong, passionate candidates that we endorsed played a significant role in shaping that public narrative.

We are incredibly excited to have supported the winning campaigns of the following tax champions:

• Jennifer Wexton (VA-10)
• Sean Casten (IL-06)
• Angie Craig (MN-02)
• Katie Hill (CA-25)
• Cindy Axne (IA-03)
• Lizzie Panhill Fletcher (TX-07)
• Elaine Luria (VA-02)
• Colin Allred (TX-32)

As well as the campaigns of the following candidates with races currently too close to call:

• Anthony Brindisi (NY-22)
• Andy Kim (NJ-03)
• Carolyn Bordeaux (GA-01)

But this victory is just the first mile of a marathon. We have a long way to go to put working Americans at the center of our nation's priorities."

For further comments or questions, please contact Sam Quigley at sam@patrioticmillionaires.org.