The right choice on clean elections

by: Hank Kalet

Tue Apr 17, 2007 at 01:07:23 PM EDT

Money is the issue.

It's the main reason that Republicans were pushing the 12th District as this year's clean elections test case -- and the main reason that state Sen. Ellen Karcher, a 12th District Democrat, was prepared to participate.

The state clean elections selection committee saw things a bit differently. They selected the 14th District as the test case -- a decision that has been criticized as partisan by the GOP.

But the 14th, as I've written elsewhere, has always been the most logical choice.

Hank Kalet :: The right choice on clean elections

First, there is the money. The 14th is an expensive district -- more expensive (at least according to Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein, a Democrat from the district) than the 12th and every other district in the state over the last several cycles.

It has been competitive: During the last four Assembly races, seats have swapped back and forth. Plus, only one incumbent is running (Greenstein).

The 14th is a more compact district, which should give the program a better chance of working.

And, most important, the Assembly's two biggest supporters of the clean elections program -- Greenstein and Republican Bill Baroni -- are running and committed to making the program work.

That to me is key. The best argument on behalf of the 12th is that it is one being targeted by both parties and could be a magnet of special interest money. That gives the GOP an incentive here -- money right now tends to favor Democrats -- to take public money, but it makes it a poor choice as a pilot. There are too many variables and there is too much at stake.

That said, former State Sen. William Schluter, a Republican who sat on the Clean Election Commission that studied the 2005 pilot program, is right.

"One of the criticisms of this bill is that it would have a partisan body formed to make this decision -- and you're looking at it," Schluter said.

The issue, however, is not the selection of the 14th, but that the legislation ultimately approved was destined to create this kind of battle -- one that could only result in a partisan decision. A better approach would have been an expanded program -- at least four districts (two chosen by each party, which would have allowed both districts to be in play), though the six originally recommended would have been better.

In the end, the 14th makes the most sense -- if for no other reason than the candidates will be committed to making the program work.

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Tags: Clean Elections, campaign finance, Baroni, Greenstein, 14th District, 12th District, Beck, Karcher, (All Tags)

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The right choice on clean elections | 1 comments

Looking forward to a Clean 14th! (0.00 / 0)

Thank you Grassroots for your commentary on the selection of the 14th District for the Clean Election pilot program.

It was a thrill for me to serve on this committee and an honor to once again be called upon to help move the program forward.

I think that the most positive outcome of the meeting was that the candidates in both districts truly wanted to particiapte in the program, and that, as I indicated during my comments was a sure sign that the 2005 was not a failure as many have indicated.

From my point of view, your analyses of the evidence presented to us is pretty dead on. The 14th has a longer history of being a competitive district, is more diverse (both ethnically and financially), and most importantly, is currently represeted by two of the architects of the program.

During his testimony Assemblyman Greenwald made the statement that if the program doesn't work this year we don't get another shot. Some of my colleagues on the selection committee disagreed with this statement but I think it is right on. Those of us that advocated for the reintroduction and expansion of the program for 2007 had a tough time convincing lawmakers that with some changes, it could work. THankfully, in the end, they took many of the recommendations we made in the final report of the Citizens' Clean Elections Committee and now we have a program that can work.

I have personally committed to writing checks to candidates in the 14th where I live and look forward to working to make it successful. I hope many of BJ's readers will join me!

by: stevelenox @ Wed Apr 18, 2007 at 15:25:48 PM UTC