New Haven in 2001 was the scene of the costliest municipal election in Connecticut history. Some $800,000 was spent in the primary alone as the two of us battled it out. About 16,000 people voted in that primary, by far the largest turnout in any municipal primary that year.
It was a spirited, closely fought race. The debate we had about our city improved it and certainly made both of us better public servants as result. Competitive elections will do that. But the race also strengthened our individual commitment to campaign finance reform. The need to raise all that money was neither good for public faith in government nor pleasant for the two of us to have to do.
New Haven was fortunate to have two well-established candidates who could wage such a significant public debate. What the election reveals, however, is that the tow of us are among the few people in New Haven who could realistically raise enough to contest a mayoral election. Aside from an incumbent state senator or someone of significant personal wealth, it is unlikely anyone could afford to challenge an incumbent mayor – and that is not a good thing.
Gov. M. Jodi Rell recently unveiled her “fairness Over Favoritism” plan outlining proposed changes to the state’s campaign finance and ethics rules. We applaud her contribution to the debate, but this plan omits a central component to comprehensive election reform – public financing.
Elections can only be truly fair when any qualified candidate, no matter the size of his or her war chest, can run for office; when the citizens, not just the wealthy, can meaningfully contribute to a campaign; and when candidates spend time debating the issues, not fund-raising. In short, when public funds level and expand the playing field.
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Too many qualified candidates are locked out of electoral politics because they don’t have the money to compete – particularly challengers who have less name recognitions than incumbents. Although Rell’s proposal would address many concerns regarding ethics and campaigns, it would actually limit public debate and protect entrenched incumbents by decentralizing fund-raising and altering sources of money and maximum donations without replacing the current system with a means to promote democratic debate. Therefore, as far as unintended consequences go, that’s a whopper.To be sure, aspects of our current election system are inherently un-democratic because they limit voters’ choices, creating the suspicion that politicians will be accountable to wealthy campaign contributors—not constituents—and make elections about special interests, not ideas. A publicly financed system—would remove the influence of wealthy special interests.
Rell and some Republican legislators argue that public financing will burden taxpayers; but states such as Arizona and Maine have paved the way for “clean elections,” showing the rest of the country they are feasible and growing. In 2004, nearly 80 percent of Maine’s legislative candidates rejected private money. Meanwhile, Arizona’s road to its 2002 voluntary public financing of election campaigns was paved with circumstances familiar to Connecticut. Since 1988, one Arizona governor has been impeached and one has resigned in disgrace.
Our state should, like Arizona, use its recent corruption scandals as a springboard for real change, not just proposals that embroider the margin of the problem. How can the opponents of genuine reform say that giving taxpayers something they want – a voice in the democratic process – is a burden when our state spent $6 million on the impeachment investigation leading to Gov. Rowland’s resignation?
One local option is voluntary partial public financing of municipal elections. We hope the General Assembly supports municipal public financing of elections as a good first step.
“Fairness over favoritism” only cracks open the door to campaign finance and ethics reforms our state desperately needs. Broad reform will be achieved when the public becomes confident in our election process and in our elected officials, and this will only happen when the public’s voice can be heard – through the public financing of campaigns.
Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven) is the state Senate Majority Leader. John DeStefano Jr. is the mayor of New Haven and a candidate for governor in 2006. The two ran against each other for the Democratic nomination for mayor of new Haven in 2001.