[img_assist|nid=34006|title=|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=150|height=111]Washington, D.C. - It is now the political norm to run for office free of direct dependence on private campaign contributions in the nation's two pioneering Clean Elections states, Maine and Arizona, results from this month's elections show. 

In Arizona, [img_assist|nid=34007|title=|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=150|height=132]nine out of eleven statewide elected officials, including the governor, secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer, and mine inspector, and four out of five members of the corporations commission, ran "clean." Aside from a very modest infusion of seed money at the start of their campaigns, the largest campaign contribution these public representatives had to collect was a $5 check. Once they qualified, by collecting a fairly large number of these $5 contributions, they agreed to abide by spending limits and appear in debates, in return receiving public funds--up to $2.3 million in the case of the winning gubernatorial candidate, Janet Napolitano.[img_assist|nid=34004|title=|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=150|height=122]

In Maine, 77% of the state senate and 55% of the state house will be made up of Democrats and Republicans who ran "clean," along with one Green and three independents. The Arizona state house will be 45% "clean," as will 17% of the state senate. Overall, 152 out of 287 state elected officials in the two states, or[img_assist|nid=34005|title=|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=150|height=104] 53%, who take office next year will have participated in Clean Elections.

For more information, contact Rick Bielke at Public Campaign, 202-293-0222. In Arizona, call Cecilia Martinez, Arizona Clean Elections Institute, 602-462-1113. In Maine, call Doug Clopp, Maine Citizen Leadership Fund, 207-780-8657 x 5.