The Briefing: A big week for campaign finance reform

U.S. politics are tilted — undeniably tilted, disgracefully tilted — in favor of wealthy donors. New York State is a case in point. In the 2018 election cycle, the 100 largest donors to New York candidates gave more money than the combined total of all 137,000 small donors (those giving $175 or less). This week, however, the state can take a historic step toward leveling the political playing field by fully funding its new small donor public financing program.

Here’s how the program will work. State-level candidates who opt in will receive matching funds for all donations between $5 and $250 that come from within the state or, in the case of legislative candidates, within the district. The ratio of the match varies between 6-to-1 and 12-to-1, depending on the office being sought and the amount of the donation, and there is a cap on how much public money each candidate can receive. The bottom line is that candidates will no longer have to court ultra-wealthy patrons to win elected office in New York.

Small donor matching works. New York City’s program, which has expanded in recent years, helped increase female representation on the city council to 61 percent after the most recent election. People of color now constitute 67 percent of city council members, bringing them roughly in line with their proportion of the general population. Public matching wasn’t the only factor in these increases, but it made a big difference. With the help of the program, women and candidates of color who were competitive in the most recent primaries raised nearly equal amounts of money, on average, as their white and mail counterparts — a stark contrast to national campaign finance data.

In addition to its proven efficacy, one of the great virtues of small donor public matching is that it’s inarguably constitutional. New York’s matching system does not restrict, in any way, the right of political benefactors to exercise their First Amendment rights through massive cash transfers. Instead, it amplifies the voices of everyone else.

The New York State Legislature approved the small donor public match in 2020, with plans to launch it this year. It is now critical for leaders in Albany to provide the funding required to make it work, including $40 million in matching funds that will go to participating candidates, something the governor and legislative leaders are currently negotiating. The deadline for a budget deal and vote is Friday, April 1.

The state’s new public financing system will revolutionize New York politics. If the program had been instituted prior to last year’s state legislative elections, donations of less than $250 would have been responsible for 61 percent of all funds raised by candidates, rather than just 13 percent. After decades of false starts, this week could mark a major step forward in campaign finance reform.

— Lawrence Norden, Senior Director, Elections and Government

Democracy

The Big Lie Infects Races for Election Administration Positions

The conspiracy theory that the 2020 presidential election was somehow “stolen” has transformed formerly quiet contests for positions that administer elections. The fallout is affecting races for everything from secretaries of state to town clerks. So far, in all six of the battleground states with secretary of state elections in 2022, there is at least one candidate who has questioned the results of the last presidential election. A new series of Brennan Center resources tracks candidates’ statements about the legitimacy of the elections system in 10 battleground states. Each state has its own page, which will be updated in the runup to November. Read more

A Trailblazer for Women in the Judiciary

Florence Ellinwood Allen was the first woman to sit on a state supreme court and also the first on a federal appeals court. Elected to the Ohio Supreme Court a century ago, she overcame workplace sexism and immense social resistance, in large part thanks to ardent supporters in the women’s rights movement. “Allen’s story reminds us of the importance of a representative judiciary to affirm the legitimacy of a system that administers justice for all. There is still much work to be done on that front,” Amanda Powers writes. Read more

What Congress Needs to Do to Protect Election Workers

Threats against election officials across the country have forced them to take previously unthinkable steps like hiring personal security guards or even fleeing their homes. As a result, many have left their jobs, which are crucial to our democracy, while many more are considering it. A recent Brennan Center poll of election officials found that the vast majority believe that the federal government isn’t doing enough to respond. Gowri Ramachandran details several proactive steps that Congress can take to help keep election workers and their families safe. Read more

Fellows

Patriotism and Progress on Trial

At last week’s Senate hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court, there was a second, less obvious proceeding underway. As Ted Johnson put it, American patriotism was on trial as well. Two conflicting visions of the concept emerged: one grounded in optimism and incremental progress, the other inward-facing, intolerant, and nationalist. “Amid the conspiracy-driven antics of those who profit from a politics of division, a patriotism insisting that many peoples can indeed become one persists. If justice is done, senators will consider Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination on the merits of her professional record and judicial temperament alone,” he writes. WASHINGTON POST

Coming Up

VIRTUAL EVENT SERIES: Drawing the Line: How Redistricting Impacts Latino Communities

Hispanic Federation and the Brennan Center are co-hosting a series of discussions that will provide an update on the redistricting process in North Carolina, Florida, Texas, and Georgia. Panelists will discuss the impact that the new maps will have on the Latino community, upcoming elections, and representation at all levels. RSVP today

Florida: Thursday, March 31, 10:30 a.m. ET

Speakers: Laudi Campo, Florida Director, Hispanic Federation // Miranda Galindo, Senior Counsel, LatinoJustice, PRLDEF // Thomas Kennedy, Policy Advisor, Florida Immigrant Coalition // Jackie Colón, Southeast Regional Director, NALEO Educational Fund // Joel Flores, Mayor, City of Greenacres // Moderator: Mireya Navarro, Editor in Chief, Brennan en Español

Texas: Thursday, April 7, 1 p.m. ET

Georgia: Thursday, April 14, 11 a.m. ET

VIRTUAL EVENT: Uncounted: The Crisis of Voter Suppression in America

Thursday, March 31, 6–7 p.m. ET

Join Gilda R. Daniels, University of Baltimore law professor and author of Uncounted: The Crisis of Voter Suppression in America, in conversation with the Brennan Center’s Wendy Weiser to discuss the crisis of voter suppression today. Daniels, who served as a deputy chief in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and has more than two decades of voting rights litigation experience, warns that a premeditated strategy of restrictive laws and deceptive practices has taken root and is eroding the very basis of American democracy — the right to vote. RSVP today

Want to keep up with Brennan Center Live events? Subscribe to the events newsletter.

News

Alicia Bannon on the benefits of Ketanji Brown Jackson’s time as a public defender // CNN
Ames Grawert on bail reform and crime rates in New York // NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Ted Johnson on Senate questioning of Jackson on criminal justice issues // BLOOMBERG LAW
Michael Li on Democratic gains in redistricting // ASSOCIATED PRESS
Daniel Weiner on corporate PACs // INTERCEPT
Wendy Weiser on “election police” and confidence in the election system // WASHINGTON POST

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