New York Leadership for Accountable Govern ment (NY LEAD), a new organization of New York civic, business, and philanthropic leaders, launched on Wednesday to urge Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) and the state legislature to pass public financing legislation to “restore fairness and integrity to New York’s political process.”

You can watch videos of the press conference launching the group. Speakers included Sean Eldridge, the president of Hudson River Ventures, former U.S. House Member Scott Murphy, and Frederick A.O. Schwarz, Jr., the chief counsel at the Brennan Center and former chair of the NYC Campaign Finance Board.

The New York Times reported, “The push to improve the state’s campaign finance laws has gained an unlikely ally: some of New York’s wealthiest political donors.” The story quotes Eldridge, who said at the press conference that “I would love to see our elected officials talking to all of the voters, not just the people who can write big checks.”

The AP provided more details on the goals of the organization, reporting that, “The New York Leadership for Accountable Government says it will promote voluntary public financing of political campaigns, lower maximum levels of contributions, and independent enforcement of campaign finance abuses.”

“This system right now is built for the big donor. It’s not built for the average donor,” New York State Public radio reported Murphy saying at the event.

More coverage at Albany Watch, YNN News, Politics on the Hudson, and the Albany Times-Union.

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