Monday, January 8, 2001 marks a new day in Arizona government. For the first time legislators who ran for office free of any obligations to campaign contributors under the state’s new “Citizens Clean Elections Act” are being sworn in. The new law was approved by the voters in a 1998 initiative. It provides candidates who opt into the program with public financing for their campaigns. To receive the public funds, candidates must gather a specified number of five dollar qualifying contributions, abide by spending limits and accept no additional campaign contributions.

“I am looking forward to working with these legislators for the next two years because they are dedicated to the concerns of the citizens of Arizona, not the concerns of special interests and big money,” said Shar Bozack, Executive Director of Arizona’s Clean Elections Institute.

Two state senators-a Democrat and a Republican-and 12 members of the house (20 percent) got elected running “clean.” Of the six people who ran for the Corporations Commission, a statewide regulatory body, three ran “clean” and two of them were elected-and sworn in on January 2. The third seat on the commission wasn’t up, so now the Corporations Commission will have a 2 out of 3 "clean" majority. Over all, 36 percent of the Clean Election candidates who ran won their races.

The state of Maine also had “clean” elections this year, with its new legislature sworn in on December 6. One-third of Maine’s legislature took office without ties to special interest money. In the Senate, 17 out of 35 members won their seats without private funding. In the House, 45 out of 151 winners participated in the program. The Clean Election members include the Democratic House Speaker and the leader of the Senate Republicans. Overall, 116 out of 352 general election legislature candidates opted into the Clean Election program. Sixty-three percent of the participating candidates were Democrats and 34 percent were Republicans. Thirty-two percent were incumbents. Almost half the races had at least one candidate running “clean.”

The Lieutenant Governor of Vermont, Douglas Racine, also ran with public financing under legislation going into effect this year. He took office on January 4.

“We are extremely pleased with the way the system worked in these states,” said Nick Nyhart, Executive Director of Public Campaign, a national reform group. “It cut campaign spending, reduced the role of big money, leveled the playing field, freed candidate time to talk to the voters, encouraged qualified people to run and improved the debate. These laws show the nation what comprehensive campaign finance reform can, and should, look like. Elected officials should be indebted to the voters by virtue of votes cast, not contributors by virtue of dollars paid. That’s the way democracy is supposed to work.”