While Congress eyes Maine's Clean Elections system as a possible federal model for publicly financed campaigns, next year's candidates for governor are already queuing up to qualify for funding. A political party member must have 2,000 nominating signatures plus 3,250 five-dollar contributions that must be collected over a six-month period. And now, thanks to a new change in the Clean Election law, a candidate must raise an additional $40,000 from Maine contributors who can donate no more than $100 each.
"There are six people in the history of the Clean Elections system that have qualified for the governor's race and I'm one of them," says State Sen. Peter Mills, of Cornville. Mills is staging his second attempt at winning the Republican nomination for governor next year. He lost in a three-way race four years ago to former State Sen. Chandler Woodcock. Working through a network of party associates, friends, family and the Internet, Mills says his name recognition as an eight-term legislator and trial lawyer enabled him to meet the threshold to qualify for public funding. But he never thought it was easy and he doubts his opponents will either.
"Some people can be convince to part with five dollars to support somebody's candidacy with relative ease," says Mills. "It's quite another thing to ask somebody to give you a check for $100. That means that they know you, that they're making a commitment to your campaign, that they want you to win. I mean, to get that kind of support, to get $40,000 raised in that fashion is a real challenge that people will find very very difficult to meet."
The new mandatory $40,000-dollar seed money requirement imposed by lawmakers this year, coupled with legislative change two years ago that increased the number of $5 contributions from 2,500 to 3,250 will be daunting for candidates without significant networks of support.
Mills says that was clearly the Legislature's intent. "Both of those requirements are going to make it very difficult for an unknown candidate or candidate without broadbased support to gain eligibility for the Clean Election. It'll be very difficult this time. I find it challenging as well. And the Commission itself, I think, decided it was necessary to make it fairly difficult to qualify."
The likelihood of all six candidates qualifying for public campaign funding is viewed as pretty remote by election watchers. But if they did and the state was unable to cover the costs of the campaigns through available funds, the Legislature could authorize additional money or Clean Election candidates would be permitted to raise their own funds to reach the permitted levels. Mills says the state has made adequate provisions. "The state is prepared to fund three or four, maybe as many as five primary candidacies and perhaps one or two general election candidates. However, that won't happen. It has become very difficult to qualify as a Clean Election candidate in Maine for governor."
Clean Election candidates in next year's gubernatorial race will have six months to collect five-dollar contributions beginning in mid-October.