Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, possible 2020 candidate, rejects corporate PAC donations

Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, considered a potential presidential candidate in 2020, announced Tuesday that she will no longer accept contributions from corporate political action committees.

The New York Democrat, speaking in a video she tweeted, said she made her decision "because of the corrosive effect of corporate money in politics."

Gillibrand, who is up for re-election this year, said one reason she’s concerned about money in politics is the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United vs. FEC. The 2010 decision helped pave the way for super PACs that may spend unlimited money in support of candidates as long as the political action committees operate independently of political campaigns.

“We have a system where corporations can spend unlimited money that isn't even disclosed so there's no transparency,” she said.

I will no longer accept donations from corporate PACs, and I wanted to share why I’ve made that decision. I hope you’ll join me in doing everything we can to fight to reform our broken campaign finance system. pic.twitter.com/v2oWvEiUCe — Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) February 13, 2018

Gillibrand has received more than $1 million in PAC contributions between 2013 and 2018, with more than 68% from business groups, 7% from labor and more than 24% from ideological groups, according to a Center for Responsive Politics analysis of Federal Election Commission data.

Her decision follows the example of Sen. Bernie Sanders, a 2016 Democratic presidential primary candidate in 2016 who does not accept corporate PAC contributions.

Gillibrand has said she isn't running in 2020 and is focused on her upcoming Senate race.

She said she has made it "her mission to create more transparency and accountability in Congress," and she was first to post her schedule, targeted spending items known as "earmarks" and financial disclosures online. More recently, she posted her taxes.

“We really need to make every effort we can to get rid of the corporate money and dark money that is flowing into politics and my effort to ban corporate PAC checks is just a first step in that direction," she said.