Public Financing Comes Out On Top

Greg Dildine hedged his bets and donated money to both candidates running for the General Assembly. He ended up picking the early winner — the state’s young public-financing system.

Dildine gave money to the campaigns of both of candidates running for state representative for the 92nd General Assembly District: incumbent Pat Dillon and challenger Alderman Sergio Rodriguez. It was a vote of support for the process itself, Dildine said. The district covers a swath of New Haven including Westville, West River, and Edgewood.

With contributions from neighbors like Dildine, Rodriguez and Dillon have been working to qualify to receive public funds for their campaigns — and proving that the system works to create connections with lots of constituents rather than a few special interest groups, while helping challengers to take on incumbents..

The candidates are participating in the state’s Citizens Election Program (CEP), which doles out public money to candidates who raise a threshold of money through small contributions. State representative candidates have to raise $5,000 through at least 150 contributions. That achievement qualifies them to receive a grant from the state.

Dillon has already made it. She received a $26,000 grant from the state this month.

Rodriguez, too, has raised enough money to qualify, he said Tuesday. He has submitted an application to receive his $26,000 and is expecting a decision from the State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC) this week. Rodriguez raised over $3,000 in the first two weeks of July alone, bringing him up to $5,291 in contributions just in time to file for public funds by last Friday’s deadline. Rodriguez faces Dillon, a 13-term incumbent, in an Aug. 10 primary for the Democratic Party nomination for the seat.

The public financing system, in its second state legislative season, is proving popular with New Haven Democrats looking to move up.

One of the two candidates in New Haven’s other state legislative primary, Roland Lemar, an East Rock alderman seeking the open 96th District seat, is also participating in the public system (which is voluntary). He has received $26,000. Lemar’s opponent , East Rock psychologist Debra Hauser, is not participating in CEP. Instead, she has poured $25,000 of her own money into her campaign.

The other New Havener seeking office in the Aug. 10 primaries, Secretary of the State candidate Gerry Garcia, also submitted his application for public funding by last Friday’s deadline. The State Elections Enforcement Commission plans to consider his and Rodriguez’s filingsWednesday and Thursday. The candidates can’t afford to have any errors in the filings;the SEEC will not be giving any extensions.

Garcia, New Haven’s only candidate for a statewide office, expects to see $375,000 in public funding. He had to raise $75,000 in contributions of $100 or less.

Small Donations, Time To Campaign

New filings from the campaigns of both Rodriguez and Dillon show that they’ve been reaching out to neighbors and pulling in small donations largely from people who live in the 92nd District.

That’s just the kind of campaigning the Citizens Election Program is designed to foster, said Cheri Quickmire, head of Common Cause, a good-government group that has been a strong supporter of public financing. ​“That’s exactly the idea,” said Quickmire, when told how Rodriguez and Dillon have gone about raising money.

“It’s important that they’ve been able to raise money from small donations and not have to take special interest money,” Quickmire said. ​“We think that it’s worked well to encourage that.”

Having to reach out to over 150 people for donations ​“has been very positive,” Dillon said. ​“It’s brings people into the process.”

It’s brought Greg Dildine (pictured in a file photo from this event), a Westville alderman, into the process twice. His name shows up on campaign finance disclosure statements from both the Rodriguez and Dillon campaigns. He gave $50 to Dillon’s campaign on Feb. 28 and $25 to Rodriguez’s on July 6.

“It was an endorsement of the public financing system,” Dildine said. He said more than supporting any one candidate, he wanted to support the system to facilitate a healthy primary race.

Dildine acknowledged that he’d given more money to Dillon than to Rodriguez.

“I’m leaning towards Pat,” he said. ​“I think she’s just been out there more.”

Dildine said he hasn’t campaigned for either candidate or made a final decision on whom he’ll vote for.

Rodriguez’s campaign filings indicate that he has the support of a number of aldermanic colleagues, along with city workers. Dillon’s records show support from members of the mayor’s staff as well as a small donation from the chairwoman of the town Democratic committee. Dillon received $10 from town Democratic committee chair Susie Voigt. She also took in $25 each from the mayor’s chief of staff, Sean Matteson, and legislative director Adam Joseph.

Rodriguez received donations ranging from $25 to $100 from Aldermen Bitsie Clark, Charles Blango, Carl Goldfield, and Katrina Jones. He also got money from parks department head Bob Levine, public works director John Prokop, Livable City Initiative chief Erik Johnson, and LCI Deputy Director Frank D’Amore along with 11 other city employees.

Nancy Nicolescu, a spokesperson for the SEEC, said Rodriguez’s application is up for commission consideration Wednesday, and Garcia’s is up Thursday.

On Tuesday, the SEEC was coordinating with Rodriquez’s election committee to fix some numbers that didn’t add up on his July 10 financial disclosure statement. ​“We’re working with the committee,” said Nicolescu. ​“It’s not an uncommon error to see aggregate totals not match up.”

By Tuesday afternoon, the problem had been resolved and a new report was posted on the SEEC website. The figures indicate that Rodriguez has raised $5,291 in contributions, enough to qualify him for a $26,000 grant, as long as the SEEC doesn’t find any other problems with the application.

“We look at every single transaction,” said Nicolescu. ​“I can’t stress that enough.”

If the commission finds problems with an application, it often will issue a continuance of one week, giving the campaign time to fix the errors or raise more money. But there’s not time for that so close to the Aug. 10 primary, Nicolescu said. At most, a candidate considered on Wednesday July 21 might be given until Thursday July 22 to fix his or her application.

“July 22nd is the last day,” Nicolescu said.

Once a candidate’s public financing application is approved, his or her committee receives the money by electronic transfer. That can take 48 hours from the time of approval, Nicolescu said.

Gerry Garcia’s campaign manager, Jason Bartlett, said he’s hoping to get the $375,000 very soon. ​“I’m praying, this week,” he said.

The campaign has already earmarked some of that money to pay the bill for Garcia’s new video advertisement. It’s a high-quality spot that shows Garcia’s professionalism, Bartlett said.

Some of the $375,000 will also go toward direct mailings and getting the video ad on TV. Click play to watch it.

Raising the qualifying funds proved to be a challenge, Bartlett said. The maximum contribution level of $100 is just too low, he said. ​“It’s difficult to even pay someone to even help you get the $100 contributions.” Barlett said he thinks the maximum contribution for constitutional offices should be $200 or $250.