Speaking of North Carolina, Chapel Hill may become the state's first municipality to offer a full public financing option for city council races. The state legislature has approved the idea, now the council is debating it. Cities like Portland, Oregon and Albuquerque, New Mexico offer a full public financing option and officials in more cities (like Los Angeles and New York) are proposing similar programs as the cost of running for office goes up and closes more people out.

Hearings on a new full public financing program for elections in Chapel Hill, North Carolina are getting underway after a long effort by town council member Mark Kleinschmidt to get attention to the issue.  The North Carolina Assembly has opened the door for Chapel Hill to pursue this on a pilot basis, we'll see if it goes all the way.

The Daily Tar Heel weighs in on recent efforts in Chapel Hill, North Carolina to implement a full public financing option for municipal races.  The price tag to win a seat in Chapel Hill is typically thousands of dollars -- well out of reach for many people who might otherwise make excellent candidates.  The editorial supports public financing to level the playing field for all competitors.

In an effort to boost the number and diversity of candidates who can seek office in Chapel Hill, the North Carolina Senate yesterday approved a Clean Elections pilot program for town council races. Town Council member Mark Kleinschmidt speaks in this article about the anticipated benefits of such a program. North Carolina, which currently has full public financing available for judicial races, is considering passing it for some legislative and Council of State races as well.

We have two pieces of good news from North Carolina today. A group of prominent campaign donors have come forward in favor of public financing for the state's elections, and the state House approved a public financing pilot project for elections in the town of Chapel Hill.

North Carolina's House Election and Campaign Finance Reform Committee approved a public financing pilot project for elections in the town of Chapel Hill, yesterday. The full House will have to approve it for it to go forward, but chances look very good. Read more here (last item).