Will Maryland's Montgomery County point the way for the rest of the state in adopting a public financing program for elections to county positions? The Washington Post outlines the legislation being considered by Montgomery representatives in the House of Delegates and encourages their leadership on this issue.The cost of campaigns, and pressure to raise more and more is hurting the county and pushing the discussion of change: The county, whose nearly 1 million residents make it a good deal bigger than a congressional district, has seen the cost of local elections skyrocket; the two major candidates for county executive in 2006 together spent around $3 million, and most candidates for the council spent well over $100,000 and in some cases more than $200,000.As in many such local races, developers and public employees unions contributed heavily to their favorite candidates, leaving some successful candidates indebted or beholden to them in office. It's no coincidence that the county has been overly generous in the contracts it has negotiated with teachers, firefighters and other unions, since those are the very interest groups that have lined the pockets of politicians at election time. The county is now paying the price in the form of bulging deficits that will have to be slashed in coming budget cycles.The Maryland legislature as a whole will be considering a Clean Elections public financing bill this session and a show of support for such a system in a high profile place like Montgomery County that borders Washington, DC would provide some needed momentum.