Committee Unanimously Rejects Bill Allowing Candidates for Secretary of State, Attorney General to Access Public Campaign Funds

Lawmakers on the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee have unanimously voted to recommend that a bill allowing candidates for Attorney General and Secretary of State to participate in the Maine Clean Elections Act (MCEA) not be passed into law.

LD 454 was sponsored by Sen. Joe Baldacci (D-Penobscot) and, if approved, would have given 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 have gone into effect unless the state constitution were amended to allow for their direct election, as another bill now under consideration proposes be done.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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 of public funds went to candidates participating in the Maine Clean Elections Act.

Unless drastic action is taken by lawmakers, the committee’s action ensures the proposal to potentially allow candidates for Secretary of State and Attorney General to receive MECA funding will not advance.

When an Ought Not to Pass committee report is unanimous, as it is in this case, no further action may be taken by the Legislature unless an appropriate Joint Order is filed and approved by two-thirds of the members in both chambers.

If successful, a bill that has been unanimously recommended to not pass may be debated on the chamber floor. Otherwise, the bill is placed in the legislative files and cannot be considered further.