WASHINGTON _ End Citizens United, a liberal PAC, is throwing its weight behind Democrat Jon Ossoff in the race to replace Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price in Georgia's 6th District.
The endorsement is the latest sign that Democrats want to make a play for this district, which President Donald Trump carried by less than 2 points, and that Ossoff is their top candidate.
The former Hill staffer and Atlanta native has already banked half a million dollars in support through the liberal site Daily Kos. Georgia Reps. John Lewis and Hank Johnson, Ossoff's former boss, have both endorsed him.
"We need an anti-corruption reformer like Jon Ossoff in Congress to lead the fight against President Trump and his allies, who are doubling down on a rigged system," Tiffany Muller, Executive Director of End Citizens United, said in statement.
ECU's goal is to overturn the End Citizens United Supreme Court case and it endorses Democratic candidates committed to campaign finance reform. ECU's PAC spent $15 million on House and Senate races in 2016.
ECU will connect Ossoff's campaign to local volunteers _ it has 40,000 members in the Atlanta area _ and activate its national doors, ensuring "he has the resources to win," according to a statement from the organization.
Ossoff is one of five Democrats running in the special election, which has attracted a field of 18, including a handful of ardent Trump supporters. All candidates will run together in an April 18 jungle primary, with the top-two vote-getters advancing to a June 20 runoff.
Democrats will need to coalesce around a single candidate if one of their own has a chance of making the top-two. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee included this district on its initial list of 59 targeted seats, but it's still an uphill climb for the party. The Atlanta suburbs may not have been friendly to Trump, but Price won re-election by 23 points last fall.
