Supporters of publicly financed elections lost a good friend and historical figure earlier this week in Arizona. Louis Rhodes, former longtime head of the Arizona ACLU, died Sunday after a long battle with Alzheimer’s.

Louis was a key architect of the Arizona Clean Elections system of public financing, which passed on the state ballot in 1998. He knew very well the ins and outs of Arizona politics and had plenty of good advice as the ballot proposal was drafted, campaigned for, and, later, implemented. As the initiative’s campaign manager recalled to me this morning, “he knew people in every network and at every level and worked them to promote the law and give it legitimacy. He was one of our key strategists.” We’ll miss you, Louis. Thank you.