Newest Democratic candidate Larry Lessig would resign as president after making 1 law
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Harvard professor and political activist Larry Lessig announced Sunday on ABC's This Week he will seek the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination after meeting his goal to crowdfund $1 million by Labor Day.
Unlike the rest of the 2016 field, Lessig's campaign hinges on a single issue: expanding voting rights. If elected president, Lessig said he'd mandate passage of The Citizen Equality Act. He'd resign immediately after it becomes law, allowing his vice president to take over the office.
"The point is to have a stage in this campaign, a stage in this debate right now where we're talking about something other than just the horse race between Democrats and Republicans — where we can have an argument about a principle that in fact most Americans agree about," Lessig said. "There is no strong standard in America that says we should not have equal citizens in America."
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Watch his full announcement interview below. Julie Kliegman
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.
