In 1996, Maine voters took a groundbreaking step by passing a measure that reduces big money’s influence in politics and opens up political office to more people. The Maine Clean Elections Act provides public financing for qualifying candidates for state office. The program is paid for, in large part, by candidates collecting $5 contributions for the fund; every candidate must collect a minimum number of these contributions to qualify for clean elections.
Since the program’s implementation in 2002, the majority of state legislative candidates (including a majority of victorious candidates) have used Maine’s clean elections system to fund their campaigns. One of the program’s biggest strengths was a matching funds provision that enabled additional funds to be distributed to clean elections candidates when a certain amount of money was raised and spent by their opponents, or groups supporting their opponents. This provision allowed clean elections candidates to better compete with privately funded candidates and political action committees.
Unfortunately, Maine had to do away with its matching funds provision in 2011 due to a U.S. Supreme Court decision, and at the time the Legislature did not do anything to replace it, leaving many clean elections candidates high and dry. As a result, fewer candidates used the program in 2012. In addition to this burden, the governor has attempted to further gut the program’s funding.
I have supported Maine’s clean elections system since its creation. This is why I cosponsored and strongly supported a bill that will strengthen the system by allowing candidates to receive additional funds if they collect a certain number of additional $5 contributions.
This important bill will allow clean elections candidates to stay more competitive in an environment where corporate spending on elections is out of control. It is fair and it is necessary, and I am pleased that a strong bipartisan majority of my colleagues voted to support it in the Maine Senate.
The program has enjoyed the overwhelming support of Maine’s voters, and has empowered countless people to run for office who otherwise would not be able to run. This system is what allows me, an EMT from Sanford who is not independently wealthy, to run for and get elected to the Maine Senate. It gives working-class Mainers of all backgrounds a better opportunity to serve.
And having a Legislature where the diverse interests of Mainers are well-represented is good for all of us.
It also reduces the influence of big-money contributors and corporations. Since the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its infamous Citizens United decision in 2010, corporate money has flooded elections ranging from the White House to the Statehouse in ways never seen before. According to a report by Maine Citizens for clean elections, private money exceeded clean elections money in 2012 ”“ the first time this has happened since the Maine Clean Elections Act was implemented.
We need to stop this backwards momentum. For years, Maine has been a model for inclusive elections that limit the influence of big money. We have been a leader in public financing so much that our Congresswoman, Chellie Pingree, has sponsored legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives to create a federal version of the Maine Clean Elections Act. We can be leaders again.
Our democratic process is worth it.
— State Sen. John Tuttle represents Senate District 3, which includes Alfred, Limington, Lyman, Sanford, Springvale and Waterboro. He is the Senate chairman of the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee. He holds office hours every Sunday from 1-3 p.m. at his home, 176 Cottage St. in Sanford.
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