Democratic Rep. Summer Lee took her fight against big money in politics to Carnegie Mellon University last week, leading a roundtable discussion on the outsized influence of super PACs and corporate donors on American democracy.
The event, held Wednesday, Aug. 27, at CMU’s Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy and covered by The Pitt News among others, drew roughly 300 attendees in person, along with additional online participants. Titled “The Many Over the Money: A Roundtable on Money in Politics,” the panel featured Lee alongside Alexandra Flores-Quilty and Courtney Hostetler from the nonprofit advocacy group Free Speech for People, according to The Pitt News.
The discussion traced many of today’s campaign finance issues to the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United ruling, which allowed unlimited independent expenditures by political action committees. Lee argued that the decision “opens the floodgates” for corruption and leaves elected officials less accountable to their constituents.
“This is a Democratic and a Republican issue,” Lee said, stressing that reliance on large-scale donations undermines lawmakers’ focus on serving the public. “If you have to run every two years, and it costs more and more to run for office, that means you have to raise more and more money — so you don’t turn to working class people.”
Lee noted that the influence of political money extends beyond Washington, pointing to recent Pittsburgh elections in which PAC funding played a significant role. She warned that politicians who depend heavily on corporate donors risk prioritizing outside interests over the communities they represent.
Her call to action urged voters to press candidates directly on their stance toward campaign finance reform. “When a candidate runs for office, the first thing you ask them is, ‘What do you think about money in politics? How are we going to overturn Citizens United? How are we recapturing our democracy from outside influences?’” she said. “You have to make that a campaign issue. Only we can do that.”
Lee’s advocacy reflects a broader national debate over political spending as reform advocates push for greater accountability, transparency, and public trust in the electoral process.
