Nathaniel Rosenberg Photo
Newly elected board Chair Lesley Heffel-McGuirk (left): "I feel very strongly about the Democracy Fund, and about democracy in general."
Mayoral candidates can now raise less money from individual contributors, and put a lot less of their own money into campaigns, if they want to receive a public grant and matching funds through the city’s public financing program.
Those are among the changes now in effect for the city’s Democracy Fund, a pioneering municipal program that began in 2007 and attempts to limit the influence of special interests and encourage more candidates to participate in mayoral races.
The Board of Alders approved a suit of changes to the mayoral campaign public financing system in November. Those changes were discussed Wednesday night at the first meeting of the new year of the Democracy Fund’s board, which took place on the second floor of City Hall.
The changes have been long in the works — and come just in time for another mayoral campaign season, in 2025.
The changes include lowering the top amount of individual contributions from $450 to $400; codifying a $5 minimum contribution; and limiting participating candidate’s contributions out of their own pockets to their own campaigns from $23,000 to $1,500.
The fund provides both an initial public grant and matching funds for donations to eligible mayoral candidates who agree to cap individual donations far lower than the state maximum and swear off contributions from political committees.
Board members predict these changes will increase the relative impact of small-dollar donations, decrease focus on fundraising over discussing issues by candidates, and hopefully lead to more competitive elections.
“Some of the dollar amounts were increased over and over again with inflation. So some of them had gotten high for what the purpose of the program is: to really focus on small-dollar donations to municipal campaigns,” Lesley Heffel-McGuirk, who was elected Wednesday to be the board’s new chair, told the Independent.
The changes will take effect for this year’s mayoral race. So far, the only declared candidate, Mayor Justin Elicker, has said he plans to use the program, just as he’s done every other time he’s run for mayor.
In a mayoral campaign fundraising email released Thursday, Elicker praised the program for “Get[ting] big money out of politics,” writing that because of the program, candidates can focus on small-dollar donations over large spenders.
Democracy Fund Administrator Aly Heimer said that both limiting candidate self-funding and lowering the maximum contribution were done with that specific goal in mind.
“The spirit of the law is to create an environment where small-dollar, grassroots contributions are rewarded. In order to do that, self-limiting higher contributions means that a candidate has to talk about their message with more people, and they then can’t help but be influenced by those conversations,” Heimer said. “So having a conversation with a $20 donor is a lot different than having a conversation with a $1,000 donor.”
So. What's Changed?
Board member Jim O’Connell revels in catching a typo on the 2025 candidate contract, which was approved at the meeting.
Click here to read the full ordinance passed by the Board of Alders. Some of the changes include:
• During the 2023 election cycle, the Democracy Fund allowed participating candidates to accept individual donations of up to $445. The new rules drop that individual donation cap to $400, and it would tie increases in that amount to inflation.
Board member Sarah Ficca volunteered this change as her favorite. “That $50 adds up really fast, and it’s going to force the candidates to have to reach out to more people, because for those high dollar donors, it’s really easy to max them out.”
• The fund now limits participating candidates to contributing $1,500 of their own money to their campaigns, a steep drop from the previous limit of $23,000.
• The rules also codify a recent drop to the minimum-level contribution eligible for public matching from $10 to $5. Heimer touted this as ensuring any voter could contribute to a candidate and feel like their donation has an impact.
• The fund increased the initial public grant amount given to campaigns that qualify (by raising at least $5,000 from 200 registered New Haven voters) from $23,000 to $25,000.
• The revisions also codify the matchable contribution limit of $35 (up from the $25 limit previously written into the law). That means that, if an eligible candidate receives a $10 donation, the fund will double that amount and pay the candidate another $20; if that candidate receives a $25 donation, the fund will pay the candidate $50; if the candidate receives a $35 donation, the fund will pay the candidate $70; but if the candidate receives a donation that is greater than $35, the fund will still pay that candidate only $70 for that particular contribution.
• The new rules also limit the amount a candidate can raise “per cycle” to $400,000, down from $445,000 in 2023. Candidates can also receive up to $125,000 in matching funds along with the initial $25,000 grant. Those numbers apply separately to primaries and general elections, which are defined as separate cycles, and therefore can reset after a primary.
• Another new rule is that candidates who do not secure ballot access must return the money they’ve received from the Democracy Fund to the program. Candidates must also return Democracy Fund money if their competitors drop out before the election and it winds up that they’re running in an uncontested race, with a contested race being defined as one where at least two mayoral candidates raise or spend $5,000.
• The board also updated the fund rules to require that all credit card processing fees be covered by campaigns, fixing an issue that cropped up for Liam Brennan during his 2023 mayoral run.