Campaign Finance

Cheri Quickmire, executive director of the watchdog and advocacy group Common Cause in Connecticut, is wary of dramatic hikes in the dollar amounts. Looney’s idea of $18.7 million for a governor campaign “seems extreme,” she said, agreeing with Candelora, “and I think that it invites challenges to keeping the program a clean money program.”

“Connecticut voters deserve the absolute best version of democracy. Knowing where your candidates stand on these issues is the first step toward making Connecticut a leader in the freedom to vote.”

Both bills received near-unanimous support during their public hearings, and both bills were reported favorably out of Committee more than a month ago but have not yet received a vote in either chamber.

"Citizens might have expected the issue of foreign interference in all U.S. elections to have been banned by federal law. True, foreign nationals are barred from donating to U.S. political candidates or committees. But a recent legal decision by the Federal Election Commission confirmed that neither Congress nor the FEC has acted to close the federal loophole that permits foreign spending to influence the outcome of state and local referenda."