Last year North Carolina used the successful public financing program in place for its judicial elections as effective justification and leverage to move a proposal forward to try a pilot program for public financing for elections to three offices that are part of the Council of State. Now Bob Phillips of Common Cause North Carolina writes in the Leland Tribune about further advancing the public financing option to legislative offices.The campaign money game is getting played at a higher and higher level for both state and municipal races in the state, fueling discussion about what must be done to counter corruption and ensure that the voice of the voter is still heard over the din of big money. The North Carolina Assembly slowly warmed up to the public financing idea for the Council of State, and passed a law allowing Chapel Hill to try a pilot program for its council race.  Writes Phillips:This fall, we hope the good folks who serve us in the General Assembly are taking a closer look at what is happening in the elections in their home towns. We hope they return to Raleigh next year with a renewed interest to expanding public financing for more locales.Without the option of public financing, local campaigns across our state are likely to become more expensive, more tied to wealthy special interest money and less competitive. This is not something our rapidly growing state, struggling to balance growth, should be facing.