Portland's Voter-Owned Elections public financing program for their mayoral and city council races is set to have a good year with a record seven candidates qualifying for public funding and agreeing to spending limits.

Several of the candidates are running for soon-to-be vacated seats on the city council:

Jim Middaugh is the only publicly financed candidate running for the seat opened by the resignation of Commissioner Erik Sten. Middaugh, Sten's chief of staff, said the limited spending allowed under the program will force candidates to talk to voters.

"I don't have to spend time raising money," he said. "My job is to meet people I don't know."

This high number of candidates running within the Voter-Owned system will not only put a premium on voter contact, it will also help to control spending in the wake of record-setting races in years past:

Overall spending on campaigns in Portland races should fall significantly from past elections. Mayoral candidates alone in the 2004 primary spent more than $1 million, for instance.

Janice Thompson, executive director of Democracy Reform Oregon, said there was record fundraising in 2004 with 69 percent of the money that candidates received arriving as checks of $1,000 or more.

"Now, every one of the $5 donors is equally important, whether they're wealthy or not," she said.