Read our 2009 report, "Campaign Finance Reform: A New Era," which lays out the action steps to end pay-to-play politics by eliminating the dominant role of large campaign contributors, amplifying the voice of small donors, increasing transparency in the way campaigns are funded, and adding teeth to enforcement.
Fair Elections for Congress
Our Top Priority
Instead of focusing on jobs and the economy, health care, and the mortgage crisis, elected officials in Washington spend too much time raising money from the lobbyists and industries they’re suppose to oversee. It’s time to get our elected officials out of the fundraising game and let them do the job we elected them to do.
In a citizen-funded "Fair Elections" system, qualified candidates who take no contributions larger than $100 can run for Congress on a blend of small donations and public funds.
The pay-to-play political game must come to an end. Common Cause’s top priority is to pass the Fair Elections Now Act for Congress.
Presidential Public Financing
Citizen-Funded Presidential Campaigns
The presidential public finance system has become out of sync with modern presidential campaigns, leaving the incentives to opt into the system too weak for most candidates. It's time to reboot the system.
"Clean Elections" in the States
Changing the Way America Pays for Elections
Clean Elections give citizens a greater voice in their government, while greatly reducing the undue influence of special interest money in politics. Clean Elections-style reforms in Maine, Arizona, New Mexico, Connecticut, North Carolina, and New Jersey have proven effective and popular with voters and candidates alike.
Recent Common Cause-backed victories include:
- New Mexico enacted Clean Elections for judicial races, and Albuquerque did it for municipal races.
- New Jersey improved and reauthorized its Clean Elections pilot project for a handful of legislative races.
- North Carolina passed a Clean Elections pilot project for down-ticket statewide offices.
Other Campaign Finance Reforms
Reducing the Influence of Big Money
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