Courage to Change (political action committee)

{{Short description|Political action committee}}

{{Use American English|date=September 2021}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2021}}

{{Infobox organization

| name = Courage to Change

| image =

| leader_name =

| leader_title =

| founded = 2020

| founders = Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

| website = {{url|https://couragetochangepac.org}}

}}

Courage to Change is an American political action committee launched by U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to elect progressive challenger candidates.{{Cite news |last1=Walsh |first1=Deirdre |title=Rep. Ocasio-Cortez Launches Political Group To Boost Progressive Candidates |work=NPR |date=2020-02-21 |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/02/21/808234797/rep-ocasio-cortez-launches-political-group-to-boost-progressive-candidates |language=en |df=mdy-all |access-date=September 6, 2021 |archive-date=July 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210706035114/https://www.npr.org/2020/02/21/808234797/rep-ocasio-cortez-launches-political-group-to-boost-progressive-candidates |url-status=live }} The PAC was first announced in January 2020{{Cite news |last1=Epstein |first1=Kayla |title=Ocasio-Cortez creates PAC to push back on the Democratic Party's 'blacklisting' rule |newspaper=Washington Post |date=2020-01-12 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/01/12/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-pac-dccc-dues/ |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286 |df=mdy-all |access-date=February 22, 2020 |archive-date=February 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200224030148/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/01/12/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-pac-dccc-dues/ |url-status=live }} and the next month, endorsed seven women running for congressional seats.{{Cite news |last1=Edmondson |first1=Catie |title=Ocasio-Cortez Builds Progressive Campaign Arm to Challenge Democrats |work=The New York Times |date=2020-02-21 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/21/us/politics/aoc-democrats.html |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |df=mdy-all |access-date=February 22, 2020 |archive-date=February 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200222233503/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/21/us/politics/aoc-democrats.html |url-status=live }} Courage to Change made $160,000 in contributions in the first quarter of 2021.{{Cite news |last1=Cornwell |first1=Susan |title=U.S. Republicans spotlight AOC PAC's contributions to vulnerable House Democrats |work=Reuters |date=2021-04-19 |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/us-republicans-spotlight-aoc-pacs-contributions-vulnerable-house-democrats-2021-04-19/ |language=en |df=mdy-all |access-date=September 6, 2021 |archive-date=May 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515070545/https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/us-republicans-spotlight-aoc-pacs-contributions-vulnerable-house-democrats-2021-04-19/ |url-status=live }} The PAC did not give to endangered Democrats in the second quarter of 2021, following an issue in the first quarter in which those campaigns sought to return unsolicited donations from Ocasio-Cortez to avoid blowback from affiliation with her.{{Cite web |last1=Garcia |first1=Eric |title=AOC political group doesn't give to endangered Democrats this quarter after previous uproar |work=The Independent |date=2021-08-12 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/aoc-pac-endangered-democrats-uproar-b1901433.html |language=en |access-date=2021-09-06 |df=mdy-all |archive-date=August 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816032321/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/aoc-pac-endangered-democrats-uproar-b1901433.html |url-status=live }}