Is NYC’s Expensive Campaign Finance Program Worth The Cost?

Susan Lerner from Common Cause New York said she thought the city’s campaign finance system was far better than the state’s approach to running special elections. The state offers no public financing, making it even more difficult for someone like Benjamin to succeed, and relies instead on the local county chair of the party to pick a candidate who almost always wins the seat. “Now some of the people who run ultimately don’t garner a large percentage,” she said. “It’s still healthier to have a real choice for the voters and not just a hand-chosen candidate by a political party take the office.”