Updated November 14, 2007

Maine: In Maine, where Clean Elections has been in place for all state races since 2000, 84 percent of the legislature is represented by people who won using public funding. This includes 83% of the state senate (29 out of 35) and 84% of the house (127 out of 151).

- In 2006, three out of five gubernatorial candidates used the system. The winner, incumbent Democrat John Baldacci, did not use public financing, but showed his support for Clean Elections by ensuring the Clean Election Fund had enough funds for this election cycle.

- Of the incoming legislature, to date 49 women will be serving—at least 39 in the House and 10 in the Senate—who used Clean Elections.

- Of the Clean Elections officials serving in the new legislature, 63 percent are Democrats, 35 percent are Republicans and one percent are independents.

Arizona: Using a public funding system has been an option for Arizona state candidates since 2000. Currently 42 percent of the legislature, and nine out of 11 statewide officials ran using the system. These include Democratic Governor Janet Napolitano, who in 2006 won her second race as a publicly funded candidate.

- Of the 34 women who won office in 2006, 21 ran as Clean Elections candidates, including 18 of 31 legislators.

- Eight members of the legislature who are racial and ethnic minorities ran using the system.

- Clean Elections participants make up 60 percent of the Democratic delegation in the new legislature and 28 percent of the Republican delegation.

North Carolina: In North Carolina’s top judicial races, 2006 marked the second time candidates had the option of participating in a public financing program modeled on Clean Elections. Two-thirds of the candidates (eight of 12) running for these seats, including five of the six winners, used the system. Three of the four seats up for election on the seven-member Supreme Court and both of the seats filled on the 15-member Court of Appeals will be held by judges who ran with public funding.

- Four of these publicly financed winners are women and one is an African American. Four are registered Democrats and one is a Republican (the elections are nonpartisan); one was a challenger, one won an open-seat race, and the other three were incumbents.

- Eight out of twelve candidates in the general elections used public funding. Another attempted to participate but failed to qualify.

- Because of public financing, the campaigns in 2004 relied on attorneys and special-interest groups for less than 14 percent of their non-family funds, compared to 73 percent for candidates in 2002, before the reform.

Connecticut: In October 2007, in the first test of the new Clean Elections program in Connecticut, both candidates for a special election participated in the system.

New Jersey: In 2007, all nine of new Jersey’s winning legislature candidates in three districts where the state’s pilot Fair and Clean Elections system was available ran with public financing.

-The winners include Democrats and Republicans, representatives and senators, from all three districts where the program was available.

-Eighty percent of the candidates used the system and 100 percent of the winners did.

Albuquerque, New Mexico: In October 2007, in the first run of its public financing program for city elections, five out of nine eligible candidates used the system.

For more in-depth analyses of recent elections, visit our library. For Maine, go here and here; for Arizona, here.