WASHINGTON, Jan. 30, 2023 – A new analysis jointly produced by OpenSecrets and the Brennan Center shows the potential for New York state’s public financing program to increase the portion of political contributions in the state that come from small donors.
The new analysis shows the program’s potential to transform the political landscape by enabling candidates to rely more on small-dollar contributions from constituents and less on big donors and special interests while still raising competitive sums.
A model applying new rules to 2022 election data shows a far greater share of campaign contributions coming from small donors, countering the influence of wealthy interests.
Using 2022 state campaign finance data, the analysis produced the following findings:
• In legislative elections, the new public financing program could increase the importance of small donors from the candidate’s district six-fold, from 11% of all donations in 2022 to as much as 66% percent.
• In statewide elections, small donors’ importance could increase nearly seven-fold, from 6% to 41% of all campaign funds.>
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Source: OpenSecrets.org
