news-record.com

The following is a Counterpoint.

By Bill Knox

I agree with the editorial in the News & Record on Jan. 6 that it’s too bad elections for so many county commissioner, school board and N.C. General Assembly seats go uncontested.

Contests bring about debates and forums that educate candidates and citizens, and they help make elected leaders accountable. Even a long-shot candidate has the ability to raise public awareness of pressing issues.

One reason so many races, especially expensive, state-level ones, go uncontested is the ever-increasing cost of campaigns. Optional public campaign financing of elections can give candidates a break from “dialing for dollars” and allow them to concentrate on issues.

We have seen campaign contributions from the financial industry, oil and gas and insurance and pharmaceuticals wreak havoc on the creation of public policy. I want policies decided on their merit, free and clear from the distracting “noise” of excessive political money.

Public campaign financing is gaining traction across the country. Three states offer optional public campaign financing for viable candidates who raise a large number of relatively small qualifying contributions.

A bill to provide optional public campaign financing for congressional candidates has more than 120 co-sponsors in the U.S. House of Representatives, including five from North Carolina.

North Carolina’s successful public financing program for state-level judicial candidates and three Council of State races should be expanded to the remainder of the Council of State, to General Assembly contests and, eventually, to gubernatorial campaigns. If we want good government, we need good elections. That means, in part, elections free of the corrupting influence of big money.

We’re proud of our get-out-the-vote work and eager to refocus on campaign finance reform. Hope you’ll be with us.

The writer is a member, Democracy North Carolina, who lives in Greensboro..