State Representative Dwight Evans penned this missive in today's Daily News. In it, Evans mentions that there seems to be widespread support for public financing of elections:
I believe there is support for this important dialogue among Council and the broader range of constituents who they represent. We have intentionally chosen to not force action before the 2007 municipal elections to remove even the appearance of self-service, but more importantly, to do it right.
The best indicator that there is support for this among "the broader range of constituents" will be the size of this issue in the 2007 Mayor and Council races. Although legislation won't be passed in time to affect those particular races, there is still a chance that such a thing could become a ballot question in either the primary or general election.
Any thoughts? Will comprehensive campaign financing reform (and I mean the adoption of real public financing with spending limits, transparency and controls over where money is spent) become a major issue in the race or will it be crowded out by more pressing things? I'm especially interested to know if this issue resonates with people outside of the media, good government groups, business elite, and elected officials. Are there enough voters out there for whom a candidate's support for public financing will make a difference in how they vote?
My initial thought is no, which means State Rep. Evans's assessment of support for reform is probably a little overstated... but I've been known to be wrong before... alot.