Issues

Our elections have morphed into a nonstop race to see who can collect the most campaign cash. The small slice of our society able to give thousands of dollars in campaign donations gets the access to our elected officials, while the voices of everyday Americans go unheard. The cost of running for office continues to skyrocket, forcing candidates for Congress to spend countless hours dialing for dollars and attending high-priced fundraisers rather than working to address the issues important to their constituents.

It doesn’t have to be this way. The Fair Elections Now Act is modeled on successful state programs that have dramatically altered the way elections are run. In these states, people power trumps insider lobbyists and well-heeled interests. Instead of relying on maxed-out bundled checks, candidates qualify to receive a limited public grant and have donations of $100 or less matched on a four-to-one basis

Jackson supports the Fair Elections Now Act because it will get our elected officials out of the special interest money chase and allow them to do what we elected them to do—focus on addressing our nation’s challenges.

Voters support the Fair Elections Now Act by a two-to-one margin (62 to 31 percent), according to recent polling. Support crosses party lines and has strong support from Independent voters (63 percent). Americans want change. It’s time to end our pay-to-play political system that puts the interests of Wall Street ahead of Main Street.

How Fair Elections Works

The Fair Elections Now Act gives congressional candidates the option to run for office on small donor contributions and limited public funds, rather than relying on wealthy bundlers to fill their campaign coffers. Here’s how it works: 

• Candidates would raise a large number of small contributions from their communities to qualify for a Fair Elections grant. Qualifying contributions are limited to $100.
• For example, a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives would have to collect 1,500 contributions from people in their state and raise a total of $50,000 to qualify. Qualifications for Senate candidates vary and are dependent on the number of a state’s Congressional districts.
• Once qualified, candidates can continue to collect donations of $100 or less that will be matched on a four-to-one basis, up to a limit.  

Nearly 400 Elected Officials Nationwide

Several states across the country have elected hundreds of people with a Fair Elections-modeled program. Almost 400 state legislators, judges, and statewide officials in   Arizona, Connecticut, Maine, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Oregon   walk the halls of their state capitols, city halls, and judicial chambers without worrying about where their next campaign check will come from.  

In Connecticut, 82 percent of the state’s General Assembly won with the state’s Citizens’ Election program. Eighty-five percent of the Maine legislature and eight of 10 statewide elected officials in Arizona ran and won using their state’s Clean Elections program.