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Democracy Fund's Aaron Goode, Sarah Ficca, Aly Heimer at WNHH FM.
Candidates who ran for mayor under New Haven’s public-financing system raised 90 percent of their money from New Haveners, 28 percent more than clean-elections-defying rivals.
They also raised more local donations: over 47,000 (totaling over $4 million) from 2011 – 2023 versus some 16,000 donations worth $2.6 million for nonparticipants.
Those metrics emerge from a newly released study of the New Haven Democracy Fund, which has administered the city’s public-financing program since its 2007 inception.
The study, authored by data analyst Zoe Becker, is entitled New Haven Democracy Fund Progress and Metrics. Read it in full here.
The main takeaway: The Democracy Fund — the only municipal public-financing system in Connecticut and the only hybrid grant-making/donation-matching system in the nation — has succeeded in involving more people in local elections while enabling more candidates to run.
Qualifying candidates who agree to adhere to the program forswear private-interest and committee contributions and limit donations to $45 (rather than $1,000). In return they receive a $23,000 grant and 2 – 1 matches of the first $35 in contributions from registered New Haven voters.
The percentage of New Haven voters donating to mayoral campaigns rose from below 1 percent to 3 percent since the Democracy Fund’s inception, compared to under 0.5 percent in Hartford, Becker reported.
This “deepens their civic engagement,” Democracy Fund board member Aaron Goode said during a conversation about the report Tuesday on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven” program.
The “public buy-in” into the program has led more candidates to participate, noted Fund Administrator Aly Heimer: “It’s become a default to become a participating candidate. If you want to people considered as a serious candidate,” you will participate in the program — and even raise more money overall.
Board member Sarah Ficca, who has previously worked on campaigns, agreed that candidates see participation as “good marketing and branding.”
Goode and Heimer agreed “a lot more work needs to be done” to improve the system. The study found, for instance, 42 percent of all local contributions to Democracy Fund-participating candidates came from East Rock and Westville. Goode recommended that New Haven “level the playing field” by following Seattle and Oakland in giving all voters vouchers to donate to candidates. Heimer recommended to close a loophole that allows “exploratory” candidates to raise and spend money outside the rules of the program and then sign up fresh as participating candidates; and to explore adding city clerk and registrar of voters candidates to the system.
Click on the above video to watch the full interview with the Democracy Fund’s Aly Heimer, Sarah Ficca, and Aaron Goode on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven,” including discussion about why the Fund allowed Mayor Justin Elicker to violate its rules about spending public campaign dollars to promote a ballot referendum. Click here to subscribe or here to listen to other episodes of Dateline New Haven.
The Democracy Fund needs to move some of their mission to getting actual information out to voters, and encouraging voters to vote, rather than just being a conduit to pass money around...
Again, I bring up the lack of real information reaching the voters regarding Charter Reform as an example... that messaging was all 'spin', and a genuine disservice to any idea of 'clean politics'.