Joe Frolik of the Cleveland Plain Dealer talks to Ethan Strimling, state Senator from Maine and Clean Elections candidate, about what he likes about Clean Elections as part of an article on efforts to bring a similar system to Ohio elections.  It looks like the most likely avenue to introduce a public financing program in Ohio would be judicial elections.

Strimling is avid in his support for Clean Elections, and for what it has done to politics and campaigning in his state:

 Strimling says $25,000 was plenty in his Portland district. He spent most of it on direct mail and campaign literature; the district is so small that television wouldn't have been cost-efficient anyway. As a result of talking public money, he says, "I don't spend my time on the phone talking to donors. I spend my time on the phone talking to voters or I knock on doors. And when the campaign is over, no one can call and say, 'Hey, I gave you a thousand bucks and now I need your help.' "


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Money for the Maine system comes from the state's general fund. In tough economic times, that means lawmakers have to choose between preserving the system and cutting elsewhere. That's not always easy, Strimling says, but so far, they've done it.


"These are public elections -- like public education or a public hospital," says Strimling, 40, who'll go back to running a social-service agency in Portland when his term expires. He says you have to look at it as "a long-term investment in our democratic system."