Chapel Hill, North Carolina may have a public financing program for municipal elections if the town council signs off on it. The state Assembly has already approved the program. Supporters hope that a public financing option will even out the playing field for challengers to compete against established incumbents.

Well, it doesn't look like candidates for city council in Santa Monica, California will have the option to run in a Clean Elections-style system in the near future. An effort by councilman Kevin McKeown to initiate a study on the possibility of adopting such a program was defeated by a vote of the council last night. Perhaps the rumblings about trying to win a public financing program for Los Angeles municipal races will fuel efforts down the road in Santa Monica.

This year Albuquerque, New Mexico will see its first run of city council races where a full public financing option is available and from this report on the candidates who have qualified for public financing it seems there's enthusiasm to participate, especially in the 6th district!

New Haven's Mayor, John DeStefano Jr. reflects in this article on the changes he's making in his campaign style as part of his first participation in the public financing program now available in Connecticut. First up: a campaign kick-off in a local park, with staffers grilling up hotdogs for local supporters.

Courtesy of Willamette Week: a citizens commission has given Portland's first cycle of public financing for municipal elections a thumbs up, concluding that even with a few glitches, "public financing helped to reduce the influence of big money in Portland politics, increased the effectiveness of first-time new candidates such as Amanda Fritz and helped candidates spend more time talking to voters instead of shaking them down for campaign cash."

Madison, Wisconsin City Council President Austin King's proposal to provide Clean Elections-style full public financing of municipal races is moving forward. Last night the Council voted to form a committee to study the possiblity of implementing such a system. King, who does not plan to seek re-election, explained his motivation for championing the proposal: “I do want to make sure that … whoever succeeds me on the council is representing the interests of that district, the 8th district, rather than the interests of campaign donors.”