“Clean Elections” Funds Might Extend to Secretary of State, AG Candidates If Offices Go Up for Popular Vote

A Democrat lawmaker has proposed allowing candidates for Attorney General and Secretary of State to participate in the Maine Clean Elections Act (MCEA), which provides taxpayer funding for qualifying candidates, should these become popularly elected positions under the state constitution.

LD 454 — An Act to Allow Candidates for Secretary of State or Attorney General to Participate in the Maine Clean Election Act — was sponsored by Sen. Joe Baldacci (D-Penobscot).

If approved, this bill would give candidates running for these key constitutional offices the right to access public campaign financing.

Because the Attorney General and Secretary of State are currently selected by legislators — and not by popular election — this change would not go into effect unless the state constitution is successfully amended.

A separate bill under consideration this session seeks to extend this funding to candidates for sheriff and district attorney.

[RELATED: Legislative Panel Considers a Trio of Bills That Could Reform Maine’s Campaign Finance Laws]

Although the effort to popularly elect Maine’s constitutional officers was originally spearheaded by House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor) and a group of Republican lawmakers, this has since blossomed into a bipartisan initiative.

At the earliest, participation in the Maine Clean Elections Act by these candidates could begin with the 2028 election cycle, two years after the constitutional changes currently under consideration would take effect.

Click Here for More Information on LD 454

Approved by Maine voters in 1996 as a citizens initiative, the Maine Clean Elections Act is a voluntary program that provides full public funding to candidates running for Governor, State Senator, and State Representative.

In order to qualify for participation in the program, candidates must “demonstrate community support” by collecting a minimum number of contributions to the Maine Clean Elections Act Fund worth $5 or more from voters in their district.

Gubernatorial candidates must get 3,200 contributions, while 175 are needed for Senate candidates and 60 for House candidates.

Once approved, candidates are given a limited amount of public funding to run their campaigns.

Although candidates are prohibited from receiving any campaign contributions as a condition of receiving these public funds, they are allowed to accept limited contributions — known as seed funding — at the outset of their campaigns.

This seed funding is capped at $200,000 for gubernatorial candidates, $3,000 for Senate candidates, and $1,000 for House candidates.

In raising this money, candidates may only receive donations from individuals, and contributions cannot exceed $100.

Candidates in contested general elections are also eligible for supplemental payments through the Maine Clean Elections Act, with the amount granted dependent upon the number of additional qualifying Fund contributions collected.

For every 15 valid qualifying contributions collected by a House candidate, a supplemental payment could be made of $1,550. For every 45 valid qualifying contributions gathered, a Senate candidate would be eligible for a supplemental payment of $6,225.

Click Here for More Information on the Maine Clean Elections Act

Since its inception, more than half of the candidates running for qualifying offices in Maine have participated in the program each election cycle. This is closely paralleled by the proportion of successful candidates who received funding through the program.

While roughly 80 percent of candidates received Maine Clean Elections Act funding in 2006, this dropped to a low of 55 percent in 2018 and 2020 before rising marginally to 60 percent in 2022.

Overall, Democratic candidates are more likely to participate than Republican candidates, but the divide is significantly more pronounced in the House compared to the Senate.

For example, in 2022, more than three quarters (77 percent) of Democratic candidates in the House received public campaign funding compared to just 35 percent of Republican candidates. In the Senate, however, 80 percent of Democrats and 71 percent of Republicans participated in the program.

In the 2022 election cycle, roughly $4.5 million went to candidates participating in the Maine Clean Elections Act.

Click Here for More Information on Maine Clean Elections Act Participation

Candidates for Attorney General and Secretary of State would only be eligible to participate in this program if the effort to popularly elect these constitutional officers is successful.

Having begun as a Republican-led proposal, the effort to allow Mainers to vote for the people who serve in these critically important positions has since garnered bipartisan support.

[RELATED: These Constitutional Amendments Would Give Mainers the Right to Vote for Secretary of State and Attorney General]

A consolidated amendment introduced last week was sponsored by Sen. Trey Stewart (R-Aroostook) and cosponsored by Sen. Joe Baldacci (D-Penobscot), Sen. Brad Farrin (R-Somerset), Sen. Craig Hickman (D-Kennebec), Sen. Jeff Timberlake (R-Androscoggin), Rep. Laura D. Supica (D-Bangor), and Rep. Sophia B. Warren (D-Scarborough).

If approved by lawmakers and ratified by voters, these amendments would allow Mainers to directly have a say in who serves as Maine’s Attorney General, Secretary of State, and Treasurer.

Click Here to Read the Full Text of The Proposed Amendment

The Maine Wire spoke to House Minority Leader Faulkingham earlier this month about these proposed changes.

The Maine Wire spoke with Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham about his efforts to have constitutional officers elected by the Maine people: pic.twitter.com/VQirYjI4NY

— The Maine Wire (@TheMaineWire) February 5, 2025

A public hearing on LD 454 has been scheduled for Monday, February 24 at 9:30am in Room 437 of the State House before the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee. Testimony may also be submitted online at www.mainelegislature.org/testimony.