Why would a politician choose to cap their own campaign contributions, take on a mountain of paperwork, and submit to a higher level of expenditure oversight? A group of current and former campaign finance reform leaders convened at a panel to marvel over a locally-grown answer to that question: the New Haven Democracy Fund. Campaign finance watchdogs from the city and beyond gathered at the Omni Hotel on Thursday afternoon in celebration of the Democracy Fund’s upcoming 20th year of existence. The Democracy Fund is the only municipal program of its kind in Connecticut: a public campaign finance program for New Haven mayoral elections. The Democracy Fund was born as a pilot program in 2007 as an effort to curb the influence of well-resourced campaign donors, including prospective city contractors, on local politicians. The voluntary program requires that participating mayoral candidates adhere to certain restrictions. They can’t accept donations from businesses or political committees. They can’t accept personal donations larger than $400 per person. They can’t contribute more than $1,500 of their own money toward their own campaign. They can’t spend more than $400,000 per election. And they have to participate in a debate. In exchange for agreeing to these rules (and to documenting their compliance with these rules), candidates who raise at least 200 donations from registered New Haven voters can qualify for public financing. Those candidates receive both a base grant of $25,000 and donation-matching funds of up to $125,000. Due to precedent set by U.S. Supreme Court cases like Buckley v. Valeo, the city isn’t able to mandate that candidates abide by all of those rules. Clean government advocates can only hope that the public financing grants are enough to incentivize politicians to participate — and that city government continues to value the program enough to fund it. Thursday’s panel, moderated by New Haven Independent founding editor Paul Bass, convened several current and former administrators and board members of the Democracy Fund for a reflection on the program’s success. The fund’s 20-year run has “exceeded my expectations in that I didn’t think we’d be here,” said former Democracy Fund Board Chair Caleb Kleppner. “I thought that politicians would let the money run out, but here we are.” “When government officials are asked to give their power over their own conduct away to citizens, it’s a really scary thing” to them, said former Democracy Fund Administrator Robert Wechsler. “It’s very hard for them to do it.” According to current Administrator Alyson Heimer, the grants may work out in candidates’ favor. Heimer referenced an analysis of the 2019 mayoral election in which Mayor Justin Elicker, a Democracy Fund participant, beat incumbent Mayor Toni Harp, who chose not to participate. According to Heimer, Harp “would have had about $12,000 more in her coffer if she participated in the program.” In addition to the financial benefits of the program, Heimer argued that there’s a meaningful reputation benefit. The fund is “a measure of a candidate’s ability to take public money, spend it wisely, report those expenses and the donors properly, and fill out government paperwork,” she said. “And if you’re not able to do that, a lot of people have questions about whether or not you should be mayor.” Former administrator Ken Krayeske noted that candidates face a “paperwork penalty” while participating in the program. “But to me, the way you campaign is the way you governed. And I trust a candidate more who’s willing to engage in that extra activity to tell us, ‘This is how I’m paying for it.’” An audience of campaign finance watchdogs from New Haven and beyond. The post Democracy Fund Celebrates Two Decades appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less