FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Cassandra Robinson
(301)405-4625
[email protected]
State Legislative Candidates Favor Campaign Finance Reform
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As the debate over campaign reform heats up in Congress, a new survey of recent state legislative candidates finds strong support for changing the way the current political system works with most favoring full disclosure of all campaign finances, as well as free media time and free postage for candidates.
The views of these state candidates have powerful implications for the federal debate as the states have long been viewed as laboratories for reform. Additionally, many future members of Congress will likely be drawn from the ranks of the legislative candidates polled in this study.
The survey report, "State Legislative Candidates Support Campaign Reform," shows nearly 70 percent of 364 recent candidates support full and instant disclosure of all campaign finances. Strong support for this reform held up among incumbents, challengers, open-seat candidates, winners and losers, Democrats and Republicans, and candidates who hold differing views on the impact of money on election results.
The survey, conducted by the University of Maryland and Campaigns and Elections magazine, also found two-thirds favor giving candidates free media time or free postage. Consensus beyond these points was harder to find, but the candidates showed significant support for limiting interest group activity and providing public funding for campaigns. They were sharply divided over lowering, raising, or eliminating campaign contribution limits.
Paul Herrnson, professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland and one of the study's directors, notes that while Congress continues to struggle with the reform issue, this survey indicates the prospects for change seem much brighter at the state level.
"The time is ripe for changing the way campaigns are waged," says Herrnson. "Sixty percent of all state legislative candidates are dissatisfied with the current system and believe change is necessary."
Democrats, challengers, open-seat candidates, and those who lost their election all strongly support enacting some sort of campaign finance reform. Approximately half of all Republicans, incumbents, and election winners also favor changing the system.
The changes they favor do not all center on money. More than 80 percent of those surveyed favor holding more candidate debates, a change that does not require legislative action. Herrnson says "These finding should empower civic groups such as the League of Women Voters and Chambers of Commerce to sponsor more of these events."
Ron Faucheux, editor-in-chief of Campaigns and Elections magazine, concurs, stating: "Regardless of the ultimate fate of legislative reform and changes, there seems to be a consensus among recent legislative candidates that higher standards of campaign conduct are necessary. This survey provides a benchmark as to how candidates themselves view the propriety and acceptability of campaign conduct, which is the first step toward elevating it."
The candidates also support some voting law reforms. Large majorities of all groups of candidates favor making it easier for voters to use absentee ballots. A majority favor enacting multi-day or early balloting provisions. Support for voting by mail or election-day registration is significantly lower.
The survey also probed variations in the level of support for reform among different categories of candidates. Incumbency, election outcome, perceptions of the importance of money in campaigns and party affiliation all have a statistically significant impact on candidate satisfaction with the campaign finance system and their preferences for reform.
The survey found losers somewhat more likely to favor full and instant disclosure of campaign finances than winners, though almost two-thirds of winners are supportive of this change. The most partisan results were registered on the issue of public funding for campaigns. Sixty-one percent of Democrats believe this would be an effective means of improving campaigns compared to 26 percent of Republicans.
The nationwide telephone survey of candidates for state legislative candidates was conducted in June 1999 and was funded with a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts. The survey was based on a representative sample of candidates who ran for the state legislature between 1996 and 1998. More information about the study is available at http://www.bsos.umd.edu/gvpt/herrnson/outreach.html
Project Directors: Paul S. Herrnson, University of Maryland, 301-405-4123; Ronald A. Faucheux, Campaigns & Elections magazine, 202-887-8529.
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NOTE: To receive a fax copy of the full report, contact Cassandra Robinson at 301-405-4625 or [email protected]
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