Let’s Clean Up Albany
We all know that Albany is broken. Our state government is being run by a failed leadership that far too often listens only to lobbyists and special interests, instead of to the hard working people and families of New York and in our district.
It’s also sad but true that, in today’s political environment, candidates for public office must raise tremendous amounts of money to get elected and re-elected. As a result, candidates end up spending more time raising money than they do addressing the problems of their constituents. This vicious cycle is set only to continue: as the costs of running a campaign continue to climb, candidates and elected representatives have less and less time to spend listening and learning from their communities.
Full public financing of public elections can eliminate the influence of special interests; allow more well-meaning candidates to run for office; and force all elected officials to become accountable to ALL their constituents – not only those able to donate great amounts to their campaigns.
If candidates rely on lobbyists and special interests to get elected, we can’t help but ask: who are they going to serve once they arrive in Albany?
Steve Behar believes the answer is full public funding of elections, also widely known as Clean Elections. Clean Elections provide transparency and honesty in campaigns and government. It also opens the door to public office for many qualified citizens, who otherwise would not be able to afford to run for public office.Clean Elections also allow for a more cost-effective system. Maine, Arizona, and Connecticut have already adopted Clean Elections for all state elections. Albuquerque, New Mexico and Portland, Oregon, have also instituted full public financing for all city elections. Clean Elections have given admirable candidates, such as Arizona's former two-term governor Janet Napolitano, an opportunity to serve constituencies in a way that would not have been available to them without a Clean Election system.
Click here to learn more about clean elections!
