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Citizens United
| Citizens United | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Washington, D.C. |
| Type: | 501(c)(4) |
| Top official: | David Bossie, President and Chairman |
| Year founded: | 1988 |
| Website: | Official website |
Citizens United is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization that produces online videos and documentary films. The organization was the petitioner in the 2010 Supreme Court ruling Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.
Background
Floyd Brown founded Citizens United in 1988.[1][2] Brown was a Republican-aligned political consultant who produced a television ad in 1988 opposed to presidential nominee Michael Dukakis (D). The ad referenced a criminal in Dukakis' home state named Willie Horton to criticize Dukakis' criminal justice policies.[3]
As of September 2025, Citizens United described its mission as:[4]
| “ |
Citizens United is an organization dedicated to restoring our government to citizens’ control. Through a combination of education, advocacy, and grass roots organization, Citizens United seeks to reassert the traditional American values of limited government, freedom of enterprise, strong families, and national sovereignty and security. Citizens United’s goal is to restore the founding fathers’ vision of a free nation, guided by the honesty, common sense, and good will of its citizens.[5] |
” |
Leadership
As of September 2025, the following individuals held leadership positions at Citizens United:[4]
- David Bossie, president and chairman of the board
- Michael Boos, vice president, general counsel, and secretary
- J.T. Mastranadi, vice president for government affairs
- Richard W. Kimble, vice president of development
Work and activities
Documentary films
The following is a list of documentary films produced by Citizens United:[6]
- Trump's Rescue Mission: Saving America
- ACLU: At War With America
- A City Upon A Hill
- America At Risk
- Battle For America
- Blocking the Path To 9-11
- Border War
- Broken Promises: The United Nations at 60
- Celsius 41.11
- Citizens United 25th Anniversary Film
- Divine Mercy: The Canonization of John Paul II
- Fast Terry
- Fire From The Heartland
- Generation Zero
- Hillary The Movie
- HYPE: The Obama Effect
- Nine Days That Changed The World
- Our Sacred Honor
- Perfect Valor
- Rediscovering God In America
- Rediscovering God In America: Our Heritage
- Rigged: The Zuckerberg Funded Plot to Defeat Donald Trump
- Ronald Reagan: Rendezvous With Destiny
- Rocky Mountain Heist
- The Gift of Life
- The Hope & The Change
- Torchbearer
- We Have The Power
Notable endorsements
This section displays endorsements this organization made in elections within Ballotpedia's coverage scope.
Affiliations
Citizens United is affiliated with the Citizens United Foundation, a 501(c)(3) research and education foundation.[7]
Finances
The following is a breakdown of Citizens United's revenues and expenses from 2004 to 2023. The information comes from ProPublica.
| Year | Revenue | Expenses |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | $9.2 million | $9.8 million |
| 2005 | $6.5 million | $6.6 million |
| 2006 | $9.7 million | $9.9 million |
| 2007 | $12.2 million | $11.5 million |
| 2008 | $12.5 million | $12.7 million |
| 2009 | $13.6 million | $13.0 million |
| 2010 | $15.2 million | $15.2 million |
| 2011 | $14.6 million | $13.7 million |
| 2012 | $11.6 million | $13.2 million |
| 2013 | $14.0 million | $12.6 million |
| 2014 | $10.5 million | $11.4 million |
| 2015 | $7.6 million | $8.1 million |
| 2016 | $8.8 million | $8.7 million |
| 2017 | $7.9 million | $7.3 million |
| 2018 | $10.9 million | $9.8 million |
| 2019 | $11.2 million | $11.5 million |
| 2020 | $10.0 million | $8.8 million |
| 2021 | $7.3 million | $5.7 million |
| 2022 | $5.1 million | $5.4 million |
| 2023 | $3.9 million | $5.4 million |
Noteworthy events
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
Citizens United was the successful plaintiff in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010), a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision. The case involved whether the group's film critical of a political candidate could be defined as an electioneering communication under the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, also known as the McCain-Feingold Act.[8] Decided in 2010, in a 5-to-4 decision, the Supreme Court held that corporate funding of independent political broadcasts in candidate elections cannot be limited, because doing so would violate the First Amendment.[8]
The Court's decision struck down a provision of the McCain-Feingold Act that banned for-profit and not-for-profit corporations and unions from broadcasting electioneering communications in the 30 days before a presidential primary and in the 60 days before the general elections.[8] The decision overruled Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce (1990) and partially overruled McConnell v. Federal Election Commission (2003).[9] The decision upheld, however, the requirements for disclaimer and disclosure by sponsors of advertisements, and the ban on direct contributions from corporations or unions to candidates.[10]
See also
- What is an influencer?
- Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
- Campaign finance regulation
- 501(c)(4)
External links
- Citizens United official website
- Citizens United on Facebook
- Citizens United on X
- Citizens United on YouTube
- Citizens United on Scribd
Footnotes
- ↑ Politico, "'Citizens United' in Alaska," November 12, 2010
- ↑ Citizens United, "Home page," accessed September 17, 2025
- ↑ McClatchy DC, "The man behind Willie Horton ads has new target: Hillary Clinton," July 14, 2007
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Citizens United, "Who We Are," accessed September 17, 2025
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Citizens United, "All Films," accessed September 17, 2015
- ↑ Citizens United Foundation, "Home page," accessed September 17, 2025
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 New York Times, "Justices, 5-4, Reject Corporate Spending Limit," January 21, 2010
- ↑ Slate, "Money Grubbers: The Supreme Court kills campaign finance reform," January 21, 2010
- ↑ National Journal Online, "Court Unlikely To Stop With Citizens United." January 21, 2010
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