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Collection: Money in Politics

Poll: US Voters Positive About Democracy Fixes

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It’s the time of year for swirling fall leaves and pumpkin spice. But there’s something else in the air this season: People up, Big Money down democracy fixes. In Cascadia, there’s Honest Elections Seattle (passed by a big margin last year and now poised for implementation); Open and Accountable Elections Portland, a similar policy package … Read more

Poll: Americans Feel Electeds Serve Big Interests Over “People Like Me”

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The Washington Post reported Iast April that “money in politics is unexpectedly a rising issue in the 2016 campaign.” Every Voice has a blog where it is keeping track of what all the candidates have said about the issue—from the Sanders, Cruz, Carson, and Kasich campaigns past, through the Trump and Clinton campaigns present. It’s a long … Read more

Money is Breaking Our Democracy. So, Now What?

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Americans across demographics and party lines and in every corner of the country get it: Ninety-one percent agree that money in politics is a problem. But the very nature of the problem leads to cynicism, not confidence that we can restore balance. Only 9 percent of Americans feel that we can do anything about it. … Read more

Big Donors Dominated Portland’s 2016 Mayoral Race

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In 2016, one Portland mayoral campaign funded entirely by small donors giving $250 or less faced off against another campaign funded mostly by wealthy donors and business interests giving unlimited amounts. The big checks from a few donors far outweighed the small checks written by thousands of Portlanders. But if the Portland Open and Accountable … Read more

In Portland Elections, 600 Big Donors Tip the Campaign Scales

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The wave of big money that has crashed over US politics since Citizens United has not spared Portland, Oregon, Cascadia’s third largest city. Just 600 big donors (including individuals, business entities, labor organizations, and PACs) accounted for nearly 60 percent of all money given to city campaigns in the last completed election cycle. In 2012, … Read more

TEDx Video: How to Limit Big Money in Politics

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Did you know that it costs over one billion dollars to run for President? And even over one million dollars to run for Mayor of Portland? It’s no secret that elections at all political levels are flooded with money from big donors, which drowns out the voices of ordinary citizens. Big Money in politics limits who can … Read more

Big Coal Money is Pouring into Whatcom County

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Voters in Whatcom County, Washington, are about to bubble in their views on an obscure ballot measure that would tweak the structure of elections, changing from county-wide elections to district-only. It’s the sort of governance minutiae that’s typically overlooked by political observers and citizens alike, but in this case, the stakes are high. As we … Read more

Honest Elections Seattle Bans “Pay to Play”

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In 2013, when then-state senator Ed Murray was running for mayor of Seattle, his campaign asked Microsoft for the maximum allowed political contribution, which was $700 that year, and the company obliged. Murray was not alone in benefiting from Microsoft’s largesse: the software maker distributed similar contributions to a bevy of candidates that year and … Read more

Listen In: “It Gives Everyone—from a Dishwasher to a Bank President—a Voice”

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Where did Honest Elections Seattle I-122 come from? Who’s behind it? Why vouchers? And what’s it all about? Sightline executive director Alan Durning recently spoke with KEXP Mind Over Matters host Diane Horn to address these questions and others. The full 25 minutes are worth a listen, and you can listen in here, but some highlights are below.

On how Honest Elections Seattle limits the power of Big Money to influence our elected officials and their policy decisions (5:30):

We’ve banned contributions from entities that spend a lot of money lobbying City Hall, and we’ve banned contributions from entities that make big money getting contracts from City Hall. A candidate shouldn’t be collecting money from businesses whose whole economic future depends on the regulations that those city councilors are making at that time.

The bottom line of “democracy vouchers” (7:30):

It will turn everyone from a dishwasher to a bank president into a $100 donor from the perspective of the candidate. It gives everyone a voice.

On why this is the best solution for democracy reform, even under decisions like Citizens United and McCutcheon (8:20):

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How Money Gets into Our Politicians’ Pockets

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Editor’s Note September 2016: Washington state’s democracy reform initiative, which aims to put everyday people back in control of government, is swinging into high gear as the November elections inch closer. But how does big money get into politicians’ pockets in the first place? Here’s our quick and easy primer. Political donations are a tangled web. Convoluted with layers … Read more

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