Washington, D.C. – Nick Nyhart, the executive director of Public Campaign, made the following statement on the filing by the Democratic presidential candidates of their first-quarter fundraising reports with the Federal Election Commission:

“The winner of the presidential wealth primary is already clear: Big Money from the tiny elite capable of giving, or bundling, the all-important $2,000 checks that every candidate desperately needs to survive the winnowing process.

“The invisible dash for cash will determine who is the Democratic Party’s frontrunner—and along the way shape what issues make it onto the table. In every election since 1984 the candidate with the most money collected by the end of the year before the election has gone on to win his party’s nomination.

“Donors at the lower end of the spectrum count for little in this process. And the 96% of Americans who never give a campaign contribution count for nothing at all.

“This is no way to select the next leader of our country. The only answer to the wealth primary is a voluntary system of full public financing in both the primary and general elections for qualified candidates who demonstrate a broad base of support among average voters—as we already have in the Clean Elections states of Arizona and Maine.”