When you run for office without the backing of a political party, it can seem like a steeper climb so shouldn’t independents be allowed a leveling advantage when it comes to financing their campaigns? Two Democratic lawmakers are looking to increase the campaign contribution cap for unenrolled candidates running for office in Maine.
Under state law, candidates are limited by caps in the amount of money from any given individual or political action committee (PAC) during an election.
LD 390 — An Act to Raise the Contribution Cap for Unenrolled Candidates — sponsored by Sen. Stacy Brenner (D-Cumberland) and cosponsored by Sen. Craig Hickman (D-Kennebec), however, would double these limits for candidates who are not associated with one of the officially recognized political parties.
Maine currently allows both individuals and PACs to give gubernatorial campaigns an aggregate of $1,950, legislative campaigns $475, municipal candidates $575, and candidates for other offices $975.
This bill would double these amounts for unenrolled candidates to $3,900 in gubernatorial races, $950 in legislative races, $1,150 in municipal races, and $1,950 in all other races.
As state law is written right now, there is no distinction between candidates affiliated with an officially recognized political party and those who are unenrolled.
The proposed language would continue to index these caps to the cost of living — as is currently done under state law — requiring that adjustments be made every two years and rounded to the nearest amount divisible by $25.
Click Here to Read the Full Text of LD 390
Conversations around state campaign finance laws have been prevalent recently in Maine, both at the ballot box and in the State House.
When going to the polls for the most recent presidential election, voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure limiting contributions to independent expenditure-only PACs — commonly referred to as Super PACS — to $5,000.
While traditional PACs can make contributions to political candidates in addition to making independent expenditures — such as running phone banks and producing advertisements — they are already limited to receiving no more than $5,000 a year from any single donor.
Super PACs, however, cannot donate directly to candidates but are currently eligible to receive unlimited contributions from their donors.
This newly approved law presents a challenge to the current structure of PAC limitations, as well as to existing legal precedent. In December, two Maine-based PACs and their founders sued members of the state’s Ethics Commission and Attorney General Aaron Frey over these new limits.
In the opening paragraphs of the lawsuit, the plaintiffs argue that the $5,000 limit “suppresses this classic method of speech and association in a manner that has been unanimously rejected by every circuit court to decide the issue.”
In the following twenty pages, the PACs bringing the action contend that the law is unconstitutional under the First and Fourteenth Amendments, arguing that it violates the protected rights of free speech and equal protection.
Earlier this month, a public hearing was held for a trio of bills aimed at reforming Maine’s campaign finance laws.
LD 9 — An Act Regarding Campaign Finance Disclosure — would change a variety of campaign finance rules in the state, while the other two bills would amend the Maine Clean Elections Act.
The campaign finance legislation was submitted by the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices and presented by Sen. Craig Hickman (D-Kennebec). The proposed law would tighten various finance rules, require increased disclosure in some cases, and increase penalties for fraud.
[RELATED: Legislative Panel Considers a Trio of Bills That Could Reform Maine’s Campaign Finance Laws]
The other two bills presented at that meeting would amend the the Maine Clean Elections Act, a voluntary program approved by voters in 1996 that provides full public funding to candidates running for Governor, State Senator, and State Representative.
In order to benefit from 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.
Candidates participating in the program receive a set amount of public funding for their campaigns but, in turn, are prohibited from independently fundraising any money aside from a limited amount initial seed funding.
LD 118, sponsored by Sen. Richard Bennett (R-Oxford), would expand the program to allow candidates for district attorney and sheriff to publicly fund their campaigns as well.
Sen. Bennett’s second bill, LD 207, would eliminate the requirement that donors contributing to a candidate’s eligibility for public campaign funding must sign a document attesting that their donation was made with personal funds.
A Democrat lawmaker — Sen. Joe Baldacci (D-Penobscot) — has put forward a bill similar to Bennett’s that would allow candidates for Attorney General and Secretary of State to participate in the Maine Clean Elections Act should these become popularly elected positions under the state constitution.
Because the Attorney General and Secretary of State are currently selected by legislators — and not by Maine voters — this change would not go into effect unless the state constitution is successfully amended.
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.
A public hearing on LD 390 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.
The democrats want AS MANY NAMES AS POSSIBLE on the ballots .
.The more there are , the LESS chance any One will receive More than 50% of the vote .
Bring in the RCV voting “ tabulators “:…..Voila …The Democrat WINS .
#$$$$ = # of D selections. # RCV counts = # of D selections. No sense of fair play among the disordered, woke DEI selections. Zero self awareness.
Always beware when D’s try to assign “special privileges” to minority factions!
YES if want to run like KING. as an independent but vote like a Democrat
Eric is right .
Democrats will be secretly funding as many independent candidates as they can find .
The crazier the better . The more the merrier .
The more people on the ballot the more chances for a democrat to be declared the winner .
Rank Choice Voting has been designed for this very plan .
THANK YOU MAINE WIRE FOR BEING HERE FOR US… SPREAD THE WORD, KEEP US COMMUNICATING… FINALLY A PLACE TO VENT , AND EVEN KIDS CAN LEARN. LOVE THE MAINE WIRE.
First it was the Barbara Merrill “conservative independent” candidacy that split the conservative vote to reelect Governor Baldacci. “Clean” election funds. Then came rigged choice voting. Last Fall it was the un-enrolled from Blue Hill. The criminals are starting to freak out.