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2 r . ......... Instead of the all-too-common election year story ..,..;,Y,,, ..................... .................. .. .... ................. . . .... .. .......... ..... . . .... ------------ ----- ......... ........... . .. . . ................ ........... about good people leaving office or choosing not to ... .. . ....................... ---- ----------- .................. ------------ ... W4 run because they didn't want to spend a majority of ................... . ...... ... ................... _W W ............ _K�--- ---------- ---------- .......... their time fandraising, Arizonans and Mainers heard ------ ......... ............................... ............... ........... - - ------------ ............. .. ........ .......... ............ .... -- ----------- -time candi .... . something uplifting. They heard from first - -------- ... ......... -------............ dates taking a chance on politics because they wanted ---------------- ............. -- ------------- ........ ... ...... -- - ------- .......... IT: .... ....... -------- to serve the public and felt they had a fair shot of win- ........ ..................... ............... .......... ning. They heard from incumbents who were thrilled .... ......... ---------- ............................ - ----------- ---- to be able to spend their campaign time with their con- . ..... .......... .......... . ......... ..............:.:........... .............. .... ........ . __ -::....... ... ..........................W ___T .. ............ . ............. ........... r stituents, listening to voters' concerns, instead of :.. ::.. . -------- ...... .................. ... ...... ..................... ............... . . ................ ... . .............. ................................ . ... ....... ....... . . ...................... spending countless hours wooing potential donors. .............. h . .......... . Maine's Portland Press Herald hit the mark in saying .......... ........ . . .................�A` ... .............. ................... ;�:Xx:...... ...... but, that the new Clean Elections system "should be ow &W J. ..... ...... ... ..... .... ... ............. .......... the model for a national campaign finance reform . .......... program. ....... ...... Sixty-six percent of the Clean Election candidates were ...................... ..................... ........................................ ................... . ........... ... . ....... .... q�n4 Democrats, 30 percent Republicans and four percent fW IndIVIfteft to ge oUt were third party candidates. Almost half the races had at La- least one candidate running "clean." Small dollar donor Um tv, Wk to their can,, participation was high, too, with over 10,000 registered 8dkffNfl& do MOM of iin to h voters making a $5 qualifying contribution. MW ls, Clean Elections had a powerful effect in Maine. Vkka I W*Wd ftM**y There were more contested primaries, with many candi- run: "et as a Clean dates saying that the program was central to their deci- Election can didate.M.ne Sion to run, as they did not want to as friends, businesr response was phenome- people or special interests to finance their campaigns. Arizona also saw a big increase in the number of Loah Lan- &UM {]- oex 1hW A 71 is R wrwng her sec- candidates for office. There was a 58 percent increase and OM. She is the Democrafic Whip and is on the between the 1996 and 2000 election cycles in the num- Envhvmient Committee and the Ways and Meal ber of people who ran. There were fewer uncontested commiftelp races as well. in 1996, 5 1 races were contested as com- pared to 82 in 2000. Almost one-third of all legislative Ut I — T h e ri candidates ran "clean." In addition five of seven candi dates for the Corporation Commission, a statewide A Roar" ker.. office with broad regulatory power, ran with Clean In both Maine and Arizona, candidates who agree to raise no private money and abide by spending lim- ---------- ............ . .................... ................ ...... ..................... its can choose to be part of the Clean Elections system. Once they collect a set number of$5 qualifying con- 'Its a" '1111i,;W tributions from voters in their district demonstrating td that they have real public support, they receive a limit- "Ve 4"K ed and equal grant of public funds with which to ................ . .................... ..... ... ........................ X.X finance their campaigns. They also can receive addi- tional matching funds if they are faced with a high- spending privately financed candidate. The numbers show that the option of running no- string s-attached proved attractive to a broad variety of -Hancock a S.", .0foo �.Rw I Wd (R n d Penobscot 5� candidates. In Maine, of the 35 1 candidates who ran in C a banker and was a ftt-&W cartd- WW e**1 J, the general election for the state legislature in 2000, 1 daft. fkddeaW a long-Um, 116 ran with public funding provided by the Clean a-meffdmr Of ft BMWs Md 6i:;i0!jrM.k CoMfte Election Act. Thirty-two percent of the candidates who the Sftte and Local Government Committee and chose the Clean Election option were incumbents. Standft Committee on Engrossed