Running Clean

By Micah L. Sifry, TomPaine.com. Posted December 6, 2004.

The day after Election Day, the good people at the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP), the nonpartisan group that is the pre-eminent source of data and analysis on who gives money to whom in politics, put out a press release with an apt title: "2004 Election Outcome: Money Wins."

Indeed, in the battle for Congress, the candidate with the largest wallet won 95 percent of all House races and 91 percent of all Senate races. For the House, where partisan gerrymandering has made it more likely for a member of Congress to leave office in a hearse than due to a lost election, this rate of impregnability was the same as in 2002. Almost one out of three House races were financially uncompetitive – that is, winners faced challengers who spent less than $5,000. For the Senate, 2004 also marked a real decline in competitiveness, as just 76 percent of all Senate races were won by the biggest spender in 2002. Top spenders also won open seat races nearly nine times out of 10, reported CRP.

But while overall campaign spending rose 30 percent in 2004, topping $4 billion – led by two presidential candidates who raised more than half a billion in private contributions – something quite different took place in the states that have enacted Clean Money/Clean Elections systems: More candidates than ever are running for office on a limited budget of full public financing. And the system is spreading.

Maine, Arizona Lead The Way

In Maine, a whopping 83 percent of the state Senate (29 out of 35) and 77 percent of the House (116 out of 151) will be made up of legislators who ran clean. This is an increase from 2002, when 77 percent of the Senate and 55 percent of the House was made up of legislators who participated in Clean Elections. Both major parties are heavily represented in this group: among Democrats, 15 incoming senators and 70 incoming House members ran clean; among Republicans, 14 incoming senators, and 42 incoming House members ran clean. It is now fair to say that in Maine, at least, the political norm is for candidates to refuse private contributions and instead rely solely on equal grants of public funds, which they qualify for by collecting a large number of $5 contributions at the beginning of their races.

In Arizona, a total of 46 candidates for the state legislature and corporation commission were elected running clean. All four of the winning candidates for corporation commission participated in Clean Elections. In addition, 58 percent of the members of the Arizona state house (35 of 60) and 23 percent of the state senate (seven of 30) ran clean. In both cases, this is an increase from 2002, when the House was 45 percent clean and the Senate 17 percent clean.

Clean Elections winners in Arizona were both Republicans and Democrats. All four winning corporations commissioners are Republicans, as are three incoming senators and 21 incoming House members. Among Democrats, four incoming senators and 14 incoming House members ran clean.

Both states are reporting other salutary effects. According to Maine Citizens for Clean Elections, the number of contested primaries in 2004 reached 39, up from 31 in 2002 and 25 in 2000. This is quite significant, since thanks to gerrymandering party primaries are often the most important site for expanding voter choice. All but two of those contested primaries included at least one Clean Elections candidate. The overall number of candidates in Maine's primaries was up 12 percent, giving voters many more choices.

Micah L. Sifry is senior analyst with Public Campaign.  He is the co-author of "Is That a Politician in Your Pocket? Washington on $2 Million a Day."

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