Friday, November 19, 2010

While partisan opponents of “Voter-Owned Elections” will control the NC General Assembly next year, other parts of the nation will experience new advances for public campaign financing. West Virginia reformers held an event this week to celebrate that state’s new pilot program for Supreme Court elections, and Maine reformers threw a 10th birthday party yesterday for their first-in-the-nation “clean elections” program; well over 70% of the legislators elected in Maine, from both major parties, used the program. Larry Lessig entertained the party-goers in Maine with a rapid-fire slide show on why the clean elections idea is so important – and why it will continue to thrive despite the desire of “free market” fanatics to turn elections into auctions.