Five Days
FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE | November 1, 2018
“A small donor matching funds system would allow congressional candidates to run for office without being indebted and obligated to big money funders.”
A new coalition was announced this week that brings together 100 national organizations, including Democracy 21, to work to repair our broken political system and corrupt campaign finance system.
The Declaration for American Democracy coalition is the largest coalition ever formed to pursue a broad array of democracy reforms at the same time.
“We will not accept anything less than a strong democratic system that reflects, responds to, and represents us,” the coalition stated.
The agenda includes:
- campaign finance reform,
- voting rights reform,
- nonpartisan redistricting reform,
- Executive Branch, congressional, and ethics reforms, and
- Other essential reforms.
House Democratic leaders have said that a package of democracy reforms would be the first order of business in the House next year if they win control of the chamber next Tuesday. This would begin a tough battle in Congress that will take time but that can and must be won.
Since the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United in 2010, the extraordinary influx of big money in our elections has given the wealthiest Americans magnified and undue influence in our elections and over government policies.
A critical campaign finance reform measure included in the House democracy reform package would counter this influence by establishing a system to match small contributions to House candidates with multiple public funds, such as at a 6-to-1 ratio. With the growing role of small contributions in House races, this would provide any candidate who chooses to participate in the matching funds system the opportunity to receive very substantial funds to run their campaigns.
Why is this so important?
A small donor matching funds system would allow congressional candidates to run for office without being indebted and obligated to big money funders.
The system would also provide opportunities for new candidates to run competitive races for Congress, and it would greatly dilute the ability of big funders to buy influence in Washington.
The result: Ordinary Americans would come out as the big winners, and the power of influence-seeking funders would be greatly reduced.
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Fred Wertheimer is the Founder and President of Democracy 21, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to strengthen our democracy and ensure the integrity and fairness of government decisions and elections. See previous Notes from Fred here.
