Zephyr Teachout

“I mean this is a revolution in how campaigns work - more money was spent by super PACs than by either myself or John Faso. So what that means is that if you're a voter in this district you are more likely to have heard from a super PAC than from me or my opponent.”

“Voters have a responsibility to make a judgment with whatever facts are available on Election Day.”

“Politicians are expected to spend half their time talking to funders and to keep them happy. Given this context, it's not hard to see how a bribery charge can feel like a technical argument instead of a moral one.”

“At their best, new media are chaotic. The new technologies disrupt political pomp and glamour and engage people in an unpolished and unpredictable give-and-take. They also give citizens access to a surprising depth of raw information.”

“The corruption that hides in plain sight is the real threat to our democracy.”

“So the job of building structures, building a constitutional structure, is not just to punish those who behave badly but actually to protect people from their own temptations.”

“I see the job of attorney general as the single most important legal office in the country when you can't trust the federal government.”

“Until the 1980s, candidates spent a fraction of their time talking to donors; just a few weeks a year, a little more right before an election. True, they'd fund raise from the wealthy interests, as they do now, but it was a minuscule part of their job: policy and constituent services were the heart of the work.”

“I hope the true public servants learn from this that they should not be afraid and they will get incredible grass-roots support if they call out corruption.”

“Women are routinely demeaned, dismissed, discouraged and assaulted. Too many women's careers are stymied or ended because of harassment and abuse. In politics, where I have worked much of my adult life, this behavior is rampant.”

“I joke about it being a millstone, but it never hurts to have a name that sticks out.”

“Facebook is a known behemoth corporate monopoly. It has exposed at least 87 million people's data, enabled foreign propaganda and perpetuated discrimination. We shouldn't be begging for Facebook's endorsement of laws, or for Mark Zuckerberg's promises of self-regulation.”

“A government should not become too big to fulfill one of its most basic functions: representation.”

“I'm an FDR Democrat, and I really believe that the most important thing is the institutions of political parties, and engaging in those institutions, and, where you disagree with them, speaking up and sharing your disagreement.”

“If we don't have a responsive democracy, all the debates about charter schools, and fracking, and high-stakes testing, and the militarization of police forces - all of which are issues I care about – they aren't real debates.”

“It's said that history inevitably marches toward democracy, but it only leaves the possibility of democracy, and the constant threat that it would be eroded by big money.”

“Corruption requires looking into someone's soul and making judgments about their intent.”

“I care about dental care, and ending mass private and public surveillance, and funding schools so they can have small class sizes.”

“Facebook and Google are essentially an advertising duopoly, and we have almost no idea how their algorithms work.”

“The core of my platform is to change the role of money in politics, support public education and break up monopoly power. All of these are fundamental prerequisites to a responsive democracy.”