Democratic PAC End Citizens United names 'Big Money 20' targets for 2018

Jessica Estepa | USA TODAY

A Democratic political action committee dedicated to pushing big money out of politics unveiled Monday the 20 Republican members of Congress it will target in 2018.

End Citizens United calls them the "Big Money 20," a group of Republicans who the PAC says have favored special interests over their own constituents, whether through accepting big donations, backing legislation that benefitted their big donors or opposing campaign finance reform.

Here's who made the list:

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas

Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada

House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin

Rep. Mike Bishop of Michigan

Rep. Rod Blum of Iowa

Rep. Mike Bost of Illinois

Rep. Mike Coffman of Colorado

Rep. Ryan Costello of Pennsylvania

Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen of New Jersey

Rep. Duncan Hunter of California

Rep. Will Hurd of Texas

Rep. Darrell Issa of California

Rep. Tom MacArthur of New Jersey

Rep Pat Meehan of Pennsylvania

Rep. Erik Paulsen of Minnesota

Rep. Rob Pittenger of North Carolina

Rep. Dana Rohrbacher of California

Rep. Peter Roskam of Illinois

Rep. Claudia Tenney of New York

Rep. Mimi Walters of California

"These are the worst of the worst in Congress," said Tiffany Muller, the group's executive director.

The PAC aims to raise and spend $35 million on these re-election races in the 2018 election cycle, a surge of $10 million more than the $25 million spent during 2016.

Most of these incumbents are facing tough re-elections battles, but neither Cruz nor Ryan is considered particularly vulnerable by most independent analysts.

Since it operates as a traditional political action committee, that means End Citizen's United doesn't accept donations larger than $5,000. Its big fundraising goal depends on the smaller donations of its more than 3 million members.

That plays into its message that people want to change the system — a message that resonates not only with Democratic voters, but independents as well.

Pollster Al Quinlan noted that reducing special interest money in politics is a top priority for independent voters, ranking under only protecting America from terrorism and job creation.

Additionally, research shows that the big money in politics message works at the congressional campaign level. Quinlan pointed to the 2016 Nevada Senate race between then-Rep. Joe Heck, a Republican, and former state attorney general Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat.

The group tested two different messages: conventional Democratic messaging vs. campaign finance reform messaging. The conventional messages made independents and unaffiliated voters less likely to support Cortez Masto, while the reform messaging swung that same bloc in her favor.

That's what the political action committee wants to replicate heading into 2018, Muller said.

"We're going to use all our resources," she said.