Connecticut Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz told the Connecticut Post that the number of uncontested races has been reduced as compared to 2004.

On my way into work this morning I was listening to the Marketplace Morning Report pod cast. A few minutes in was a story called "Lobbyists prepare for greenhouse gas bill." To know ones surprise, the story was on how the bills teeth are being pulled by the army of lobbyists who want to water it down as much as possible so it will have no effect on their energy clients. Same story different bill.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) was on NPR's All Things Considered yesterday promoting his new book. In his interview, Sen. Obama talked about the problem with money in politics and his desire that elections be publicly financed. Click here to listen to the clip. 1.4 mb (requires Real Player).

Led by the California Nurses Association, a petition drive to put Clean Elections on the California ballot this November has qualified.

As posted in our blog back on April 25, Rep. Charles Taylor (R-NC) was making it his own personal mission to prevent funding to buy land for a September 11 memorial in Pennsylvania to honor those killed on Flight 93. His excuse? He was worried that enough private funding wouldn’t be raised and the government would have to foot the bill for the memorial. This is the same Rep. Taylor who helped secure a $3 million appropriation for a Jack Ambramoff client.

The Mayor of San Jose, California, Ron Gonzales, has had enough with donor driven politics and has offered a proposal that would bring Clean Elections—or publicly funded campaigns—to his city. If implemented, elections in San Jose would be about voters, not donors.