The idea of publicly financing elections has made its mark in NC politics twice – once with a proposal for publicly financing the Governor’s race, and another proposal to publicly finance state judicial races. Supporters maintain that by collecting funds and then disbursing them equally among candidates, the political system would be more fair. The state’s first attempt busted, and the second resulted in state-subsidization of the judicial races. As Daren Bakst said in the Dunn Daily Record and John Hood in the Lincoln Tribune, cutting off funding from candidate supporters’ is bad for democracy because it stifles freedom of speech and adds an unfair advantage to incumbents. Daren has reported his findings to the House Judiciary Committee, but they turned their heads. They recommend that four legislative races should act as a pilot program for testing a voluntary public campaign program.
