Passed by voters, the Maine Clean Elections Act was used for the first time in 2000 by candidates for the Maine Senate and House of Representatives. (Getty Images)
Advocates and lawmakers seeking to stem the influence of money on elections in Maine are hoping to expand the state’s pioneering clean elections program. However, during a public hearing on a legislative proposal, it became clear they are running up against a funding landscape where the state’s current allocation is being drained faster than it is being replenished.
During the Monday hearing in the, Veteran’s and Legal Affairs Committee, co-chair Sen. Craig Hickman (D-Kennebec) asked Al Cleveland, advocacy director for Maine Citizens for Clean Elections, whether they prefer the program be expanded or fully funded.
“You all get to make those decisions,” Cleveland said. “I would ask that both get funded completely.”
Hickman responded, “That’s a really good dodge.”
This tension was a throughline as the committee debated a proposal to expand the program to candidates for sheriff and district attorney.
Passed by voters, the Maine Clean Elections Act was used for the first time in 2000 by candidates for the Maine Senate and House of Representatives. Portland was the first city in Maine to run a clean elections program in 2023, an effort headed by Maine Citizens for Clean Elections.
That group’s executive director, Anna Kellar, told Maine Morning Star that both expanding the program and increasing annual allocations above the current $3 million provided are key priorities for the legislative session. Maine Citizens for Clean Elections will also be supporting another bill, which is currently still being drafted, to expand the program to county commissioner races.
Expanding participation to sheriff and district attorney
Sen. Rick Bennett (R-Oxford), along with bipartisan co-sponsors, filed legislation, LD 118, to expand the program to candidates running for sheriff and district attorney. Last session, lawmakers had passed a bill to allow candidates for district attorney to also participate, but the bill was among those enacted when lawmakers reconvened for the final day of the session that Gov. Janet Mills refused to sign.
“The last thing we want is for Mainers to think our government works for the donor class but not for the average citizen,” Bennett said during the Monday hearing.
Testifying on behalf of Maine Citizens for Clean Elections in support of Bennett’s bill, Cleveland cited the exponential growth in campaign spending for these offices over the past decade.
“Historically, the majority of DA campaigns are either self-funded, which is an issue of equity and opportunity, or funded by lawyers who expect to have their cases in that district,” Cleveland said. “Contributions for sheriff include law enforcement associations and more lawyers.”
Kennebec County Sheriff Ken Mason testified on behalf of the Maine Sheriffs Association, which he said unanimously voted to oppose the bill because it would prevent the association from participating in races. Mason said the group would rather see funding be used to support Maine jails, specifically to assist with people struggling with substance use disorders in these facilities.
Signature requirements
Bennett introduced another bipartisan bill, LD 207, to eliminate a signature requirement for contributors who donate to the program in cash.
In order to qualify and receive funding, candidates have to show they have community support by collecting $5 contributions, with required totals varying by office sought, from registered voters in their district. These requirements are intended to encourage broader constituent engagement.
Those who provide a cash qualifying contribution must sign a form to affirm that money is from personal funds and that they didn’t receive anything in exchange for it. However, Bennett said this requirement is duplicative because such an affirmation is already required on the receipt and acknowledgement form, which all donors must sign.
“I really believe that for people who want to participate in this program it should be easy and it should be smooth and frictionless,” Bennett said.
Jonathan Wayne, executive director of the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices, testified neither for nor against but told the committee that while he believes the vast majority of candidates are participating in good faith, the forms are meant as a stop gap to prevent malfeasance.
Wayne said out of roughly 200 clean elections participants each year, the commission finds one or two people who are systematically either not collecting $5 or falsifying signatures. Out of those 200, the commission finds roughly 15 or 20 who commit errors accidently, Wayne added.
“We get tipped off by a number of things,” Wayne said. “Having two signatures for the cash QCs is an extra tool for us.”
Cleveland testified that Maine Citizens for Clean Elections is “loathed to endorse any changes that could undermine the integrity of the clean elections system or take important tools away from the Ethics Commission in their enforcement efforts.”
Additional campaign finance tweaks
Hickman submitted a bill, LD 9, on behalf of the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices to tweak several campaign finance laws.
One of the proposed changes is raising penalties for what Wayne called “straw” donations, which are already illegal in Maine but difficult to detect. These are donations funneled to support or oppose a specific political group or candidate through an intermediary, however the name of the original donor is not disclosed.
“We think it’s less common in Maine, but it does pop up occasionally,” Wayne told the committee.
For example, in November 2023, the commission completed an enforcement proceeding regarding a $150,000 donation from Alpine Initiatives through an intermediary to the Maine Democratic Party. At that time, the actual donor was not disclosed.
Another change the bill proposes is requiring that the name of a person or group who paid more than $500 for a campaign text expressly advocating for or against a candidate be included in the text so the public knows who is behind it.
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