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• Download a PDF with graphs of the study findings.
• Download a PDF of the study's full report.
• Download a PDF of the study's toplines.
• Read the study's fact sheet.

For immediate release.
April 9, 2001
Contact: Jesse Rutledge, N.C. Center for Voter Education,
(919) 839-1200

Statewide Poll Shows N.C. Voters Support for Campaign Finance Reform

RALEIGH – A major statewide public opinion study released today shows that North Carolina voters are distrustful of the corruption of money in the political process and want to see substantial reforms to state campaign finance laws before next year’s elections.

"This poll shows that North Carolinians want to stop the dominance of big money and special interests in politics. Voters want to regain control of the political process and lessen the influence that big money special interests wield in state campaigns," said Chris Heagarty, executive director of the N.C. Center for Voter Education.

Among the survey’s central findings:

• 91 percent of respondents think that campaign contributors have a definite impact on the public policy decisions their elected officials make, while 72 percent think that politicians spend more time raising money than they do solving the problems of average North Carolinians.
• 62 percent want to see the Governor and legislature address campaign finance reform before the next election in 2002.
• 61 percent favor fixing the campaign finance system before the state is beset by the campaign finance scandals that have plagued other states.
• 47 percent of voters would chose a publicly-funded candidate over a special interest-funded candidate, while only 35 percent would choose the special interest candidate if all other factors were equal.

“Campaign reform is especially important this year, given the legislature is facing a budget shortfall,” Heagarty explained. “People may be willing to pay higher taxes or reduce funding of a few state programs - but not if they feel campaign donors will still get special treatment and tax loopholes.”

“Opponents of campaign finance reform usually argue two things. First, that people don’t care about this issue. It turns out that’s wrong. Second, they say that people will not vote for candidates who qualify to use public funding. Wrong again,” continued Heagarty.

The survey found that 60 percent want to see a system of public funding enacted if candidates who qualify to participate also agree to limit their campaign spending. Supporters of public funding argue that such a system would allow average people to run for office, make politicians accountable to all citizens instead of special interests and allow elected officials more time to solve the problems of North Carolinians by spending less time raising campaign cash.

Soft money is clearly recognized as a major problem for North Carolina, and 72 percent of those surveyed want to see new federal laws that would limit how much money corporations, labor unions and wealthy individuals can contribute. A majority, 54 percent, also favor stopping national political parties from sending soft money to North Carolina political parties and candidates.

"Voters are against soft money because it’s loophole money," said Heagarty. “It’s a legal tactic that big donors and special interests use in order to get around contribution limits, and no one likes a cheat.”

The survey of 600 likely voters was conducted by Public Opinion Strategies, a nationally recognized polling firm that has done research for Republican candidates such as U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes, U.S. Rep. Richard Burr, Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Arizona Sen. John McCain. Interviews were conducted March 27-29, 2001, and the poll has a margin of error of +/- 4 percent.

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