Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Largest campaign price tag in history

According to this morning’s New York Times, the candidates and party committees in the campaign for the Senate 7th have spent more than $5 million during the month-long campaign, breaking New York’s record for state legislative races.

By our calculations, that shakes out to about a dollar per registered voter per day, much of which has flowed into the campaigns through the porous holes in New York's campaign finance laws. For instance, individuals contributing directly to the candidates are limited to $13,900, yet those same individuals can give over $84,000 per year to parties, which in turn can funnel that money in unlimited amounts straight to campaign coffers.

We hate to sound redundant, but isn’t it about time for meaningful campaign finance reform?

Categories: General, Campaign Finance

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