1. United States
2. N.J.
3. Letter

I'm writing to urge you to support legislation allowing automakers to sell vehicles directly to consumers, rather than forcing every sale through a state-protected network of franchised dealers. These dealer franchise laws exist to shield a politically connected industry from competition. Written decades ago at the request of dealer lobbies, they now function as government-enforced monopolies that inflate prices, limit consumer choice, and slow the shift to electric vehicles. Companies like Tesla and Rivian have had to fight state-by-state legal battles just to sell their own cars to willing buyers. This is the product of sustained lobbying. The National Automobile Dealers Association and state dealer associations are among the most consistent political donors in the country, and the large majority of that money flows to Republican candidates and committees who then vote to preserve these protectionist laws. Consumers pay more at the lot so a narrow industry can keep collecting rents while funding a political machine that blocks reform. Allowing direct sales supports competition and benefits consumers. It lets new entrants, especially EV makers, reach customers without paying a toll to a middleman industry that adds cost without adding value. It gives consumers lower prices, more transparency, and the freedom to buy a car the way they buy almost everything else. I ask that you support federal action on this, or at minimum decline to back any effort to further entrench dealer-only sales mandates, and instead side with consumers and genuine market competition over an entrenched, well-funded lobby.