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For immediate release.
April 16, 2001
Contact: Jesse Rutledge, N.C. Center for Voter Education,
(919) 839-1200

Maine Lawmakers and Candidates Come to N.C. to Offer Details on Public Funding

RALEIGH – Tuesday morning the North Carolina legislature will have three new lobbyists working the corridors of power.

But these are not your run-of-the-mill lobbyists. They are state legislators from Maine, who are on a two-day visit to Raleigh to familiarize members of the N.C. General Assembly with the nuts and bolts of campaign finance reform. Their visit is being sponsored by the North Carolina Center for Voter Education, a nonpartisan nonprofit group working to improve elections across the state.

Representatives Bill Norbert and Tina Baker both won their elections in November using Maine’s new public funding system. Jolene Lovejoy was a Republican candidate who employed the voluntary system of campaign funding in her bid for the Maine House. Ms. Lovejoy lost her legislative bid but remains a strong supporter of the “clean elections” established by public funding.

“What we have here is amazing,” said Chris Heagarty, executive director of the Center for Voter Education. “It’s campaign finance reform that works. Campaign spending is down. Elections were won by candidates working for the public interest, not for special interests. Maine is seeing the benefits of a liberated legislature, and we could too.”

One-third of Maine’s legislature was elected under this voter owned elections system, which shuts out special interest campaign contributors and lets average citizens run for office. Statistics from the first election cycle in which Maine used the voter owned election model shows there was increased participation and competition, and that candidates who used public funding experienced a high degree of success:

Maine saw:

*A 40 percent increase in the number of contested primaries
*An increase in the number of women running for office
*In the Senate, 17 of 35 members (49 percent) won using public funding
*In the House, 45 of 151 members (30 percent) won using public funding
*More than half -- 54 percent -- of candidates using public funding won their election

“These folks are down here to talk to legislators one-on-one,” Heagarty said. “They will testify that a public funding system can work, that it can help any candidate -- Democrat or Republican, challenger or incumbent -- to take their campaign directly to the people and liberate themselves from chasing special interest money.”

Heagarty cited a recent public opinion survey conducted for the Center for Voter Education shows 91 percent of North Carolinians think that campaign contributors hold sway over the public policy decisions their elected officials make, and 72 percent think candidates for public office spend more time raising money than solving North Carolina’s problems. The same poll found that more people would vote for a candidate using tax dollars than for a candidate using private, special interest money, if all other factors were equal.

The visiting campaign finance reform advocates ride into Raleigh on a wave of momentum. With McCain-Feingold passing the Senate a few weeks ago in Washington and the release of a new statewide poll showing overwhelming public support for reform in North Carolina, campaign finance reform deserves attention from lawmakers in this legislative session.

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