[Matching programs give small donors bigger voices. ]
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NEW YORK STRIKES A BLOW AGAINST CITIZENS UNITED  
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Joanna Zdanys
May 17, 2023
The Brennan Center for Justice
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_ Matching programs give small donors bigger voices. _

, John Scott/Getty

 

American politics is awash in big money. Ever since the Supreme
Court’s infamous _Citizens United _ruling largely deregulated
political spending, the influence of wealthy campaign donors has
ballooned. The 2022 elections were the most expensive midterms ever,
and megadonors dominated the spending: just a handful of big donor
families gave more than all 3.7 million small donors. This influence
imbalance drowns out everyday voters’ voices. No wonder so many
Americans think politicians are more attuned to their donors’
interests than the public’s. 

But we don’t need to accept the status quo, and New York State is
showing us how to curtail the influence of big money. Earlier this
month, New York State lawmakers passed the state budget for fiscal
year 2024, including nearly $40 million for the state’s small donor
public campaign financing program. The voluntary program, which
launched in November 2022, is the nation’s boldest response to
unfettered wealth in our politics. The funding in this year’s budget
will keep this groundbreaking program on track for the 2024 election
cycle, and the state will be better off for it.

Just like on the national stage, campaigns in New York are dominated
by big money. In last year’s statewide elections, the 200 biggest
donors to candidates gave almost $16 million — more than all 206,000
of the state’s small donors of $250 or less put together. 

A recent Brennan Center analysis
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that the program will upend this narrative and make small donors the
most important source of campaign funding in the state. If public
financing had been available in last year’s legislative elections,
the financial power of small donors could have increased sixfold, from
11 percent to as much as 67 percent. That’s a clear win for
democracy.

The voluntary program provides participating candidates a multiple
match on small donations they receive from constituents. For statewide
races, donations from New York residents of $250 or less are matched
six to one. That means a $10 contribution plus the $60 match becomes
$70 for the candidate. In legislative elections, donations from
district residents are matched on a sliding scale that offers the
highest match to the smallest contributions. These innovations make
small contributions — and the constituents who make them — far
more significant to political candidates.  

Participating candidates will be able to fund competitive campaigns by
relying on constituents who give modest amounts, rather than spending
hours dialing for dollars from big donors and catering to special
interests. They will be able to fundraise the same way they campaign:
by spending time with voters. This shift will encourage a new and more
representative population of donors and strengthen officials’
connections to their constituents. And it will give voters a bigger
say in the decisions that affect their lives.

New Yorkers overwhelmingly support small donor public financing. A
recent poll found that a majority of New York voters across
demographics including race, age, and political party support the
state’s small donor matching program. Whether they’re upstate or
downstate, Democrat or Republican, New Yorkers are unhappy with
business as usual in Albany, and they want an alternative to the
dominant sway of big donors.

Public financing of campaigns is the most powerful reform available to
counter the outsize influence of megadonors in politics. And it’s a
reform on the march. At least 14 states and 24 municipalities across
the country have adopted public financing programs. New York’s
program is the strongest example we’ve seen enacted so far, and it
stands as a model for the rest of the nation to follow in undoing the
antidemocratic effects of _Citizens United_.

At a time when many Americans are frustrated with a political system
that favors the wealthiest, reforms like New York’s public financing
system show how we can push back. Our democracy will be stronger for
it.

_JOANNA ZDANYS serves as Senior Counsel in the Brennan Center’s
Democracy Program. Her work focuses on advancing reforms in the area
of money in politics. Zdanys provides policy advice to lawmakers
across the country and has testified before state and local
legislators._

_Before joining the Brennan Center, Zdanys clerked for Hon. LaShann
DeArcy Hall in the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of New York. Before her clerkship, Zdanys was a litigation
associate in the New York office of Morrison & Foerster LLP._

_Zdanys earned her JD from Fordham University School of Law, where she
was the editor in chief of the Fordham Urban Law Journal and a Stein
Scholar for the Public Interest. She holds a master’s degree in
English and comparative literature from Columbia University and a
bachelor’s degree in English from Yale College._

_THE BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE is a nonpartisan law and policy
institute. We strive to uphold the values of democracy. We stand for
equal justice and the rule of law. We work to craft and advance
reforms that will make American democracy work, for all._

_Democracy Depends On All Of Us
The Brennan Center is fighting back against election deniers, dark
money in politics, and the myth of voter fraud — and we need your
support. Your gift is more than a contribution to power our work —
it's an investment in rebuilding American democracy._

_Can you give today to power our fight?
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* elections
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* campaign finance
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* Big Money
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* Money in Politics
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* Dark Money
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* campaign finance reform
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