campaign finance – Page 6

And then there was one

Five of the six candidates for Senate and Assembly in the 14th District have crossed the first Clean Elections threshold, qualifying for public financing and it appears that the second threshold — 800 $10 contributions — maybe within reach soon.

The only candidate not to qualify — as far as public reports go — is Democrat Wayne D’Angelo, who was away and unavailable when we tried to reach him on a separate question earlier this week.

It looks like the program will be a success and it will be interesting to see how the election plays out once everyone is on board. Maybe there is a chance that the amount of money given to each candidate can be reduced in the future?

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
The Cranbury Press Blog

E-mail me by clicking here

Let’s get this party started

Seema Singh is the first to hit the 400-contribution threshold necessary to qualify for public financing under the state’s pilot clean election program. I was expecting Bill Baroni to get there first, but it doesn’t matter. The game is on. Now let’s hope the other five get there quickly — along with the two independents — and that all hit the magic 800-threshold.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
The Cranbury Press Blog

E-mail me by clicking here.

Reasons to be cheerfulabout clean elections

A Saturday story in the Portland Herald Press details a Maine report on its clean elections program that offers an example of why supporters of public financing in New Jersey are so hot to have the pilot program here work. The 14th legislative district, which includes Cranbury, Jamesburg, Monroe and South Brunswick, was chosen as one of three pilot districts this year. Assembly members Bill Baroni, a Republican, and Linda Greenstein, a Democrat, are co-sponsors of the clean-elections program and probably the Legislature’s biggest backers.

According to the Maine paper, the 11-year-old clean-elections law “has encouraged more people to seek office and boosted the number of challengers who take on incumbents.” The law has helped control “direct spending by legislative candidates, but not indirect campaign spending by special interests” because “political action committees and political parties are spending more to help or hurt candidates.”

This should not be a surprise — nor should it be used to damn the law. Interest group ads were a prominent feature of the last presidential race and have become a staple of races for all level of office. One option is for clean elections legislation to provide a boost in funds to candidates targeted by independent groups or those who run against candidates who opt out of the system.

The goal of public financing, however, is not just to reduce costs. Privately financed campaigns already cost the public a lot, though those costs are hard to quantify (pay-to-play contracts, corruption, access to legislators). Public financing breaks this connection, while also increasing participation.

“I think the most significant findings are that the act is encouraging first-time candidates to run for office” and allowing challengers to run competitive races, said Jonathan Wayne, executive director of the state ethics commission.

From 1990 through 2000, the number of general-election legislative candidates averaged 349, the report says. That number jumped to 391 candidates in 2004 and to 386 in 2006, as public financing became more popular.

Adopted by Maine voters in a 1996 referendum, the Clean Election Act first made public financing available in legislative races in 2000 and in gubernatorial campaigns in 2002. In last year’s general election, 81 percent of the candidates for the Legislature used the Clean Election Fund to pay for their races. So did three of the five gubernatorial candidates who were on the ballot in November.

Let’s hope the New Jersey pilot works and that clean elections can be expanded to the entire Legislature next time out.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
The Cranbury Press Blog

E-mail me by clicking here.

Doing the math

Let’s do some math.

First, 78 percent of school budgets on the ballot yesterday — including all four in the towns my papers cover — were approved. It was the highest approval figure since 2001.

Then add the results of the Quinnipiac Poll released yesterday:

Sparked by increased approval for his property tax reduction plan, the poll results released today are Corzine’s highest ever, and show “little apparent effect from his auto accident,” according to Quinnipiac.

Here are the numbers:

51 – 36 percent approval among more than 800 registered voters surveyed April 10 – 12, before news of his accident was widely known;
52 – 35 percent approval among almost 500 voters surveyed April 13 – 16, or after the accident;
51 – 36 percent overall approval for the entire survey.

Voters approve 71 – 21 percent of the property tax cut Corzine signed recently. The Governor still gets a negative 41 – 44 percent approval for his handling of property taxes, but this is his highest score on this issue, up from 33 – 57 percent February 28.

The numbers, when added together, would seem to indicate that a tax revolt similar to the 1991 purge that gave the Republicans a majority is not in the offing.

But then, the Legislature remains in the red in the poll. But there is another number that probably needs to be added into the mix: the Democrat’s 4-1 financing advantage.

(Rider University Professor David) Rebovich said safe districting and Democratic Party cash advantages will likely prevent any power shift in the coming election.

“Plus, most residents like their individual lawmakers while disapproving of the institution,” Rebovich said.

So much for an angry electorate.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
The Cranbury Press Blog

E-mail me by clicking here

Good decision proves program’s limits

Former State Sen. William Schluter, a Republican who sat on the Clean Election Commission that studied the 2005 pilot program, offered an interesting take on the decision yesterday to select the 14th District as the contested 2007 district — one I can’t necessarily disagree with.

“One of the criticisms of this bill is that it would have a partisan body formed to make this decision — and you’re looking at it,” Schluter said.

He added that the 12th is a major target this year, meaning it will be a magnet for money — again, this may be true, but it ignores the fact that the 14th has been the most expensive district in the state in recent years. So the money was going somewhere.

Where Schluter is correct is that the legislation was destined to create this kind of battle — one that could only result in a partisan decision. A better approach would have been an expanded program — at least four districts (two chosen by each party, which would have allowed both districts to be in play), though the six originally recommended would have been better.

In the end, the 14th makes the most sense — if for no other reason than the candidates will be committed to making the program work.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
The Cranbury Press Blog

E-mail me by clicking here