Sen. Dan Foster (D-Kanawha County) was a practicing surgeon for 23 years before joining Charleston Area Medical Center working on patient quality issues. And while running for office was never something he had thought seriously about, soon, “people came to me and encouraged me to run for the House of Delegates,” he said.

Candidates for Governor in Arizona vying for Clean Elections funds must show broad community support by collecting 4,200 $5 donations. In 2006, Gov. Janet Napolitano (D-AZ) had no problem collecting these donations—she received 7,200. More than a third came from constituents outside of her political party.

Rep. Kyrsten Sinema likes to stay busy. Aside from being a member of the Arizona House of Representatives, she’s a college professor and a lawyer. After graduating from college at the age of 18, she began a career in social work as a way to help those in need.

The fight for Clean Elections in Iowa is in full swing with about two weeks to go in this legislative session. What follows is an interview with Adam Mason of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement. He is one the lead organizers of this campaign. Adam gives us insight to the many aspects of the campaign and tells us why Clean Elections is so important for Iowa.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to talk with one of the organizers at the forefront of the work to win full public financing of elections in North Carolina. Organizing Director Adam Sotak has been with Democracy North Carolina since 2000, and talked with me about the history of public financing in North Carolina, and what 2007 has in store.

The fight for Clean Elections in Maryland is in full swing with about four weeks to go in this legislative session. What follows is an interview with Sean Dobson, of Progressive Maryland. He is one the lead organizers of this campaign. Sean gives us insight to the many aspects of the campaign and tells us why Clean Elections is so important for Maryland.