Time to Lengthen the Leash?

By J. Barlow Herget
Published: Nov. 3, 2003

RALEIGH - North Carolinians are famous bordering on tiresome for quoting the adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

That, I’m confident, is the vastly prevailing view towards the term lengths of most of our state and local political offices.

I’m also well acquainted with the history lesson that teaches North Carolina founding fathers were an independent lot and distrustful of royals.

The authors of our state Constitution wanted to keep their politicians on a “short leash,” meaning short terms in office. Make ‘em jump for our votes every two years.

Yessir.

Well, I believe it’s time to make some changes. Our government machinery may not be broken, but some of its parts could use some maintenance. I’m thinking specifically about the short, two-year terms of state senators and some of our mayors.

The biggest reason for change is in the cost of political campaigns for these offices. This change has been rapid and within recent memory.

Former U.S. Sen. Robert Morgan, for example, often tells what it was like when he ran for and served in the state Senate in the 1960s and ‘70s. During multiple campaigns, he received a tank of gasoline and $10 in political contributions. Total.

He paid the remainder of his costs out of his own pocket. He paid for no TV ads, no polls, no consultants.

In contrast, his son-in-law, Sen. Eric Reeves, D-Wake, had to raise and spend about $700,000 in his re-election in 2002. And Senator Reeves’ campaign was not the most expensive in the 2002 state Senate election cycle.

Says Reeves with wry humor, “Since 1996, I’ve had the joy of representing one of the most competitive seats in the state.”

Freshman Sen. Fred Smith, R-Johnston, estimates he spent between $300,000 and $400,000 in his 2002 campaign. He points out that because there are fewer senators (50) than representatives in the House (120), he has a larger district and more voters to contact than his House counterparts.

Critics of a switch to longer terms could argue that it is not the size of the districts that drives up the campaign costs, but rather that it is that political districts are drawn to be so competitive (as Senator Reeves observes) that is the cause of the problem. A less political map drawing process might help slow down climbing campaign costs, some might say.

However, while most state senators spent far less money in their campaigns than did Senator Smith, there is no question that the cost for Senate seats has risen dramatically in recent years. In the 2002 election, winning state Senate candidates spent an average of $198,150, according to Bob Hall of the nonprofit Democracy North Carolina of Carrboro.

State House winners spent an average of $61,000 in 2002, a number which has also increased dramatically in the past decade. It’s no small amount, but it’s not $198,150.

High profile local elections also are afflicted by the same change. In a successful, hotly contested campaign for mayor of Raleigh in 1989, the late Avery Upchurch spent about $70,000. But in 2001, Charles Meeker spent almost $400,000 when he ran and won election as Raleigh mayor ,and he spent $250,000 this year.

The totals are not final in the Charlotte mayor’s race, but incumbent Pat McCrory had $250,000 in his campaign pocket before the September primary. Mayors in Raleigh and Charlotte serve two-year terms. It’s the same in Greensboro, Fayetteville and Durham.

Once elected to the state Senate or to a two-year mayoral position, you get one weekend to go fishing and then you must start raising money for the next election.
There’s another downside. Raising large sums for campaign expenses takes away from the work at hand.

It may not be a permanent fix to obscene campaign costs, but four-year terms for these offices would give some reprieve from the current, almost continuous money race. Says Smith, “A four-year term would be better. You would have more time to concentrate on policy.” Amen.

North Carolina is one of 12 states that have two-year Senate terms, according to Bob Joyce, assistant director of the Institute of Government at UNC-CH. (It says something about colonial rule that of the 12, eight were among the 13 original colonies.)

Voters might well resist the idea that they should go to the polls less frequently. Just politicians trying to protect themselves, many will say.

But what about this: a survey of voters by the N.C. Center for Voter Education from 2001 found that support for 4-year terms for state legislators grew by almost 50% if the proposed longer term limits were tied to campaign finance reforms, including public financing, which would minimize special interest clout.

It appears voters would be more willing to “loosen the leash” if our elected officials would do everybody a favor and reform campaign finance.