Outside Groups Outspend Candidates in 2012 Legislative Races, 12/20/2012 Augusta, ME - For the first time ever in Maine legislative elections, candidates were outspent by groups and organizations making independent expenditures, according to Maine Citizens for Clean Elections (MCCE) who conducted an initial analysis of campaign financing in the 2012 election.
Clean Election Participation and Success Detailed in New Report, 12/7/2012 Augusta, ME - Maine Citizens for Clean Elections (MCCE) released the fifth in its series of Money in Politics reports today. 2012 Legislative Elections: An Analysis of Clean Election Participation and Outcomes compares the participation and success rates of candidates using Clean Election funding and private funding with prior election cycles. It presents raw data and observes that, while overall participation declined in the Clean Election program in 2012, success rates remained high.
Report Shows Private Money Making Big Comeback in Maine Elections, 10/26/2012 Augusta, ME - Maine Citizens for Clean Elections (MCCE) released the fourth in its series of Money in Politics reports today. Preliminary Report on 2012 Campaign Money: Private Money Making A Comeback In Maine Elections shows that as participation in Maine's Clean Election program has declined there is more private money, particularly large donations, in the hands of legislative candidates. The report also shows an explosion of spending by outside groups seeking to influence legislative races with 10 days remaining before the election.
Independent Expenditures Increase Significantly in State Legislative Races, 10/22/2012 Augusta, ME - MCCE released information today showing a significant increase in expenditures by independent groups seeking to influence legislative races in Maine. With two weeks to go before Election Day, these groups have already spent $1,895,838 to influence House and Senate races across Maine. Total legislative race independent expenditures for the entire 2010 election cycle were $1,485,833.
Report Examines Health Care industry’s Political Donations, 10/2/2012 Augusta, ME - MCCE released the third in its series of Money in Politics reports today, titled Money, Insurance, and Health Care Policy: How Health Insurance Companies’ Campaign Contributions Helped Them Win Major Legislation . The report examines the political donations made by health care interests, including insurance companies, leading up to the passage of reform legislation in 2011.
U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Maine’s Disclosure Laws, 10/1/2012 Portland, ME - The National Organization for Marriage's (NOM) three-year long effort to overturn Maine's campaign finance disclosure laws has come to an end. Today, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear NOM's appeal of lower court decisions to uphold the state's transparency laws.
Report Examines Private Fundraising of Maine Legislative Candidates, 7/19/2012 Augusta, ME - MCCE released the second in its series of Money in Politics reports today, titled The Leader Board: Maine’s Top Legislative Fundraisers and How They Earned Their Spots. The report profiles the top ten campaign spenders among privately funded candidates who ran for a seat in the Maine Legislature.
Report Details the Flow of Special Interest Money into Maine Leadership PACs, 6/7/2012 Augusta, ME - Maine Citizens for Clean Elections (MCCE) unveiled the first in a new series of Money in Politics reports titled PACs Unlimited: How Legislator PACs distort Maine Politics. MCCE simultaneously released its latest poll results.
Governor LePage Signs Do-Nothing Clean Elections Bill, 3/29/2012 Augusta, ME - Today Governor Paul LePage signed into law LD 1774, a bill that would "do-nothing" to strengthen Maine's landmark Clean Elections system despite recent polling that shows widespread support for the citizen-approved law and strong campaign finance reform.
Poll Finds Strong Support for Clean Elections and Campaign Finance Reform, 3/26/2012 Augusta, ME - New MCCE poll conducted by the Maine People's Resource Center shows that 69.3% of likely Maine voters support our citizen-initiated Clean Election Act. The poll also found that 64% of Maine people oppose the U.S. Supreme Court's infamous ruling in Citizens United vs. FEC. Click here for complete poll results.
House and Senate Send Clean Election Bill to Gov. Lepage for Signature, 3/20/2012 Augusta, ME - The Maine Senate voted today to enact LD 1774, a bill that advocates say will weaken Maine's citizen-initiated Clean Election laws by only stripping the law of the matching funds provision and not providing any replacement.
Senate Votes to Weaken Maine Clean Election Law, 3/8/2012 Augusta, ME - Today the Maine Senate voted to eliminate the matching funds portion of Maine's Clean Election Act (LD 1774) and rejected a proposal that would have replaced matching funds and kept the system whole.
Senate Takes First Step to Weaken Maine Clean Election Law, 3/1/2012 Augusta, ME - Today the Maine Senate accepted a "do-nothing" option (LD 1774) to address the U.S. Supreme Court's invalidation of a key provision in the Maine Clean Election Act, taking the first step towards weakening Clean Elections and opening the door to greater special interest influence in Maine elections.
Citizens Urge the Legislature to Keep Clean Elections Strong!, 2/29/2012 Augusta, ME - Advocates of Maine's Clean Election law gathered in Augusta today as the Maine Senate prepares to vote on amendments to the Maine Clean Election Act. They urged the legislature to keep Clean Elections strong, and presented more than 5,000 recently collected petition signatures from Maine people urging the same.
