RepresentUs

RepresentUs is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization focused on ending political corruption in the United States. It refuses to take donations from political parties and it neither endorses nor opposes particular political candidates. Funded by donations and grants, it is run mostly by volunteers aligned in a grassroots organizing network, and it has brought in high-profile celebrities to advance its message. It advertises, produces videos, and generates publicity with speeches and demonstrations and protests.

Mission and objectives

The chief focus of the organization is to end political corruption. For that end, it pushes for reforms to protect voting rights, eliminate gerrymandering, overhaul lobbying, promote financial transparency particularly regarding political donations, promote ranked choice voting and open primaries and campaign finance reform. It favors independent and bipartisan redistricting commissions for drawing congressional maps. It advocates passage of the Freedom to Vote Act. Its aim is to pass "powerful state and local laws that fix our broken elections and stop political bribery," according to an account in ''The Verge''. It supports the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the For the People Act. It tries to put "power back in the hands of the voters." Along these lines, spokespersons including Jennifer Lawrence and Khloé Kardashian have called for greater access for at-home voting in presidential primaries.

An initial stated goal was to pass the American Anti-Corruption Act. It was written with the insights of political strategists, democratic reformers, and constitutional attorneys from various parts of the political spectrum; one of the authors was RepresentUs's co-founder, Josh Silver (nonprofit director). It was unveiled in 2012. It is an example of model legislation in that it was drafted in such a way that it could be used by various jurisdictions with a minimal need for editing, while continuing to be consistent with the current constitutional structure. The act overhauls lobbying, encourages greater political transparency, and reforms campaign finance laws.

RepresentUs generally focuses not on the federal government but instead on local and state governments, since it figures it has the most leverage there; accordingly, it ignores United States territories such as Guam. It chose not to go to Congress directly because, in its view, congresspersons have already been corrupted by special interests and are unlikely to support substantive reform. It calls for a national voting standard by enacting laws at the local level. It has achieved results in progressive states, conservative states, and so-called "toss-up" states, and it tailors its efforts according to the particulars of each locality. It promotes ballot initiatives which allow citizens to vote on reform measures directly, and it ignores in-office politicians hobbled by political gridlock at the federal level. The idea is to build momentum for national reform by starting at the local level with a grassroots approach.

RepresentUs figures that if it can enlist the engagement of eleven million Americans, or about 3.5 percent of the population, it can effect substantive change to protect democracy, citing studies that show that that percentage is needed to effect change.

Leadership and organization

Josh Silver and Joshua Graham Lynn co-founded the group in 2012. In January 2022, Lynn became the chief executive officer and Silver became the Executive Chairman. Lynn's professional background is in marketing and creative services. The organization that they founded is a project of the 501(c)4 organization United Republic which is a principal sponsor of the American Anti-Corruption Act. RepresentUs is headquartered in Florence, Massachusetts.

The management of RepresentUs is divided into several branches: a board of directors, an advisory council, a cultural council, and a full-time staff. They include numerous high-profile leaders, including former FEC commissioner Trevor Potter, Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig, disgraced lobbyist-turned-reformer Jack Abramoff, representatives from Occupy Wall Street and the DC Tea Party Patriots, and the great-grandson of the former president, Theodore Roosevelt IV. Actor Jennifer Lawrence is on the board of directors.

Numerous chapters nationwide are led by volunteers. They organize public education and activities to support local anti-corruption initiatives. There are more than forty local chapters including ones in Tallahassee, Illinois, the Roanoke Valley of Virginia, and New Orleans

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