Montgomery County Md. Council Moves Forward on Campaign Finance Reform

The Communications Workers of America commends the Montgomery County, Md., Council for moving forward on efforts to establish public financing of elections for County Council and Executive.

It’s a first step toward getting big money out of politics and increasing the engagement of citizens at every level of our elections.

Right now, too many people believe that our political process is controlled by wealthy and corporate interests and that the voices of ordinary people can’t be heard. That’s true for county-level elections as well as national ones.

In Montgomery County alone, in the last election cycle successful County Council candidates raised almost $208,000 to run for one of the five district seats and over $237,000 to run for one of the four at-large seats. Two candidates brought in over $300,000. Only a third of funding came from small donors contributing $250 or less, according to Fair Elections Maryland.

This legislation is a good step forward. When candidates qualify for public funds by raising sufficient low-dollar donations from individual donors, donations of $150 or less are matched by public funds. Candidates commit to not accepting large donations from special interests.

By moving toward a system of matching funds, Montgomery County is encouraging more participation in our democracy, by both voters and by potential candidates. The end result of this process will be to get big money out and get voters back in. That’s exactly the kind of reform our democracy needs. 

For more information: Candice Johnson or Michael Allen, CWA Communications, 202-434-1168, cjohnson@cwa-union.org and mallen@cwa-union.org