As Washington continues to reel from seemingly endless revelations of lawmakers trading legislative favors for campaign contributions, candidates in key races Tuesday are facing tough questions about money and politics scandals. Scandal has been a particularly strong theme in the special election in CA-50 to replace former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, sentenced in March to over eight years in federal prison for accepting bribes from defense contractors. Scandal also has dogged Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA) and Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT), both of whom have connections to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

CA-50, Special Election to replace Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R), Republican Brian Bilbray v. Democrat Francine Busby. School board member Busby has hit her opponent Bilbray, a former congressman, for his ties to the scandal-ridden GOP. Bilbray served three terms in Congress before losing reelection in 2000, after which he went to work as a lobbyist. Among his clients were a group of investors who had contributed to his campaign and lobbied him successfully to back a Mexico water pumping scheme. When he left Congress, these same investors hired him to lobby on their behalf, according to a recent report by the Project on Government Oversight.

CA-11, primary, Rep. Richard Pombo v. former Rep. Paul “Pete” McCloskey Jr. Pombo faces questions about his ties to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The lobbyist and his clients contributed $36,000 to Pombo, according to The Washington Post. Seven thousand dollars came directly from Abramoff and his wife, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Pombo, chairman of the House Resources Committee, also has gotten hit for doing the bidding of mining, logging, and energy companies. Over the course of his congressional career, he has collected $1.3 million from agribusiness and $462,000 from energy interests for his campaigns, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

MT-Senate, primary, Sen. Conrad Burns v. Bob Keenan. Burns took more campaign money from Abramoff and his lobbying clients than anyone else in Congress, according to The Washington Post, collecting $146,590. Burns, who serves as chair of the Interior Subcommittee on Appropriations, has been forced to answer repeated questions about his directing $3 million to the wealthy Saginaw Chippewa Tribe of Michigan, an Abramoff client, for a program to fix old schools. In April, the tribe said it would return the federal grant. Emails from a Senate Indian Affairs Committee investigation of Abramoff’s dealings showed that the lobbyist was trying to get Burns to call Interior Secretary Gale Norton to support the grant, according to Congresspedia.

Longtime political watchers know that while scandal comes and scandal goes, when it starts to effect electoral races, politicians stand up and take notice. While reform of the nation’s lobbying laws is important, the core of all of these scandals runs deeper: to the very system that requires that candidates for political office must rely on private contributions to run their races.

Now, more than ever, there is a need for comprehensive campaign finance reform. In the House, Rep. John Tierney (D-MA) and Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), are sponsors of H.R. 3099, the Clean Money, Clean Elections Act, which would provide full public financing for House races, and has 39 co-sponsors. A number of senators are also having discussions about introducing a Clean Elections bill.

Under Clean Elections systems, candidates who qualify by raising a large number of small contributions—typically $5—from constituents and agree to take no private contributions are given public grants to run their campaigns. Clean Elections is a practical, proven reform that is already law in seven states and two municipalities. Arizona, Connecticut, and Maine have full public financing for all statewide elections, while New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Vermont have systems in place for some races. Meanwhile, advocates in 30 states are working to pass publicly funded elections. Most recently, the California Assembly approved a bill providing full pubic financing of elections.

The best way for candidates to avoid money and politics scandal from becoming a theme in their future campaigns is to eliminate one of its biggest spawning grounds: the pay-to-play, privately funded elections system.

Public Campaign is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to sweeping reform that aims to dramatically reduce the role of big special interest money in American politics. To date, seven states and two municipalities have passed Clean Elections campaign reform. For more information, go to www.publicampaign.org