North Carolina recently completed the first election cycle in which selected candidates for the Council of State had a chance to take taxpayer money to run for office. John Locke Foundation Legal and Regulatory Policy Analyst Daren Bakst has argued that the state’s existing taxpayer-financing schemes are unconstitutional, yet some lawmakers want to expand the schemes to cover additional election contests. Bakst recently discussed the issue with State Government Radio, and an opinion article in the Fayetteville Observer this week cited Bakst’s work. Speaking of the Observer, JLF President John Hood called taxpayer financing a “gimmick” in an article about a specific bill filed to add more Council of State races to the taxpayer-financing regime.