Connecticut Local Politics

There’s no better measure of how effective a program is then when some of the people who were originally against the program start using it. Back in 2005, Republicans dithered back and forth about whether they would support public financing. Robert Ward, then minority leader, had this to say:

“The current system hasn’t benefited us… We’re in the minority. We get outspent 3-1. And I may be willing to take a gamble.”

But in the end, most Senate Republicans voted against the bill. Most House Republicans voted against it, too. At the time, I remarked on how odd it was that they were voting against a system which would erase the big cash gap between Democratic incumbents and Republican challengers. Well, they seem to have come around.

Take a look at SEEC’s list of candidates participating in public financing. Then look at the House and Senate roll calls for campaign finance reform. There’s some overlap between the list of candidates participating in the program and the “no” votes. Here, if you’re curious, is the list.

Who is participating in public financing who voted against it in 2005?

HOUSE

Jack Malone (D)
Peggy M. Sayers (D)

William Aman (R)
Penny Bacchiochi (R)
Larry Cafero (R)*
Mary Ann Carson (R)
Livvy Floren (R)*
John H. Frey (R)
Janice Giegler (R)
Marilyn Giuliano (R)
John W. Hetherington (R)*
DebraLee Hovey (R)
Themis Klarides (R)
David K. Labriola (R)*
Lawrence G. Miller (R)
Selim Noujaim (R)
John E. Piscopo (R)
T.R. Rowe (R)
Ann L. Ruwet (R)
Pamela Sawyer (R)*
John E. Stripp (R)*
Stephanie A. Williams (R)
Kevin D. Witkos (R)

SENATE

John P. McKinney (R)
Andrew W. Roraback (R)

Who is not participating in public financing who voted against it in 2005?

Stephen D. Dargan (D)
James A. Shapiro (D)

The starred candidates are not facing opposition this year. To be fair, the list of candidates definitely not participating is very, very short. Also, there were some reasons why Republicans (and a few Democrats) didn’t support the original campaign finance reform bill that had nothing to do with public financing, including some of the loopholes in the law that were fixed in 2006.

And also, at this point, it’s very, very tempting. Because it has MONEY. And if a candidate’s opponent is using the program, they have a sudden, strong advantage. This is why the participation rate has been incredibly high this year.

As an aside, almost all candidates (Jason A. Carlascio in Waterbury being a notable exception) participating in next week’s primary are using public financing.

Source

MARK PAZNIOKAS, Courant Staff Writer. “RELL’S PLAN WIDELY HAILED ; SENATE GOP JOINS CHORUS FOR PUBLIC CAMPAIGN FINANCING :[5 NORTHWEST CONNECTICUT/SPORTS FINAL Edition]. ” Hartford Courant [Hartford, Conn.] 3 Jun 2005,A1. Hartford Courant. ProQuest.