Teacher makes GoFundMe to 'buy' senator's vote on Betsy DeVos

UPDATE: Feb. 3, 2017, 3:02 p.m. EST A spokesperson for GoFundMe has informed Mashable that the "Buy Pat Toomey's Vote" project is currently the most popular campaign on the platform. The campaign has raised over $39,000 and has received donations from all 50 states.

The confirmation of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education is at an apparent standstill with 50 votes for, 50 against, going into a Monday vote.

Pressure from constituents has led two republican senators to say they'll vote 'no' on DeVos but despite pressure from voters, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania still plans to confirm. It's worth noting, perhaps, that Toomey has received considerable campaign contributions (over $60,000, according to the Center for American Progress) from DeVos in the past.

After placing several calls and faxes to Toomey's office without changing the republican senator's vote, a Pennsylvania teacher named Katherine Fritz decided to raise a DeVos-amount of money to "buy" Toomey instead.

Fritz created a GoFundMe titled simply, "Buy Pat Toomey's Vote" with the express purpose of raising $55,800 -- roughly the amount DeVos has donated to Toomey's campaigns -- to send to the senator to encourage him to vote no on DeVos.

As of this writing, the GoFundMe has raised over $12,500.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

"This campaign isn't actually about buying a vote from an elected official. But it is about using satire to point out the various ways in which our elected officials can -- legally! -- take money from the same people that now seek political office," Fritz writes in the GoFundMe description.

The money raised by the campaign, which can't be directly used to "bribe" a politician, will be donated to three Pennsylvania education organizations: Camp Sojourner, the Pennsylvania Arts Education Network and the Children's Literacy Initiative.