Public campaign finance system launched
HARTFORD, Conn. – The state has launched a voluntary program to publicly fund campaigns for statewide office and the legislature.
To date, 145 candidates have signed up.
In return, they must forgo contributions from political action committees, raise small contributions from individuals and adhere to campaign spending limits and other restrictions. The proponents of the law, passed in 2005, say it will give average citizens more of a voice in Connecticut politics and reduce the influence of special interests.
Candidates who qualify can receive $25,000 for a state House race and $85,000 for a state Senate race. Much of the money will come from unclaimed property.
Bravo for Connecticut! I can only hope that this is another small step towards increasing the proportion of pragmatic and open minded representatives free of ideological extremes and devotion to narrow special interests.
Also there is this op-ed out of Dallas questioning whether voters are better served by “less” competitive campaigns. The Author is proposing that redistricting aim to consolidate voters of similar politics so that they can be assured of representation rather than than having more competitive districts that may be more likely to disenfranchise more voters. In his scheme the real competition would happen at the primary stage where publicly financed campaigns could still have a liberating effect on independently minded candidates. I like that he challenges my notions about what is the wisest course towards more representative government.
Born 1950, Married, Living in Austin Texas, Semi
Retired Small Business owner and investor. My political interest
evolved out of his business experience that the best decisions come out of an objective gathering of information and a pragmatic consideration of costs and benefits. I am interested in promoting Centrist candidates and Policies. My posts are mostly about people and policies that I believe are part of the solution rather the problem.