GOP Pick Pursues Public Financing

John Carlson is running to become New Haven’s first Republican not only to win a mayoral election since 1951 — but also to campaign with the help of public dollars.

Carlson, who is challenging first-term Democratic incumbent Mayor Justin Elicker in the Nov. 2 general election, said he plans to participate in New Haven’s Democracy Fund.

Under the voluntary program, candidates agree to limit individual contributions to $390 (rather than $1,000) and forswear political-committee donations in return for a $20,000 grant and 2 – 1 matches of the first $30 in contributions from registered New Haven voters.

To qualify, candidates must raise at least 200 donations of at least $10 apiece from registered New Haven voters, and have raised and spent at least $5,000 in total. So Carlson is asking people to contribute here to his campaign to help him qualify.

New Haven’s Democracy Fund is the state’s only municipal public-financing program. It was founded in 2007 — the last time the Republicans fielded a candidate for mayor. (The Fund’s board is considering updating how it works.)

Elicker has participated in the Fund in each of two previous mayoral runs, and is participating again this year.

In an interview, Carlson embraced the public-financing program — with a twist.

“I believe in it. it opens the door to democracy,” he said. ​“It gives the little guy, a small party, a chance to be heard.”

But he argued that the Fund doesn’t go far enough in limiting the amount of money spent on campaigns. The current cap is $390,000 for a mayoral campaign. ​“Three hundred ninety thousand dollars on a mayoral campaign is an absurd amount of money,” Carlson said.

He promised to stop raising money once he hits $75,000 in total contributions and Democracy Fund help.

Once he hits that point, he said, he is asking supporters to donate instead to a food bank, homeless shelter, or ​“environmental cause.”

Elicker called a $75,000 spending cap ​“naive.” In past elections, incumbents could far outspend opponents by bypassing the fund and tapping government contractors and others who rely on the city for contracts or favors.

“I strongly believe in public financing and clean elections,” Elicker said. ​“If campaigns cap their spending at $75,000, it basically ensures no one will participate in the Democracy Fund. As we’ve seen, the candidates that choose not to participate in the Democracy Fund overwhelmingly outspend candidates who do participate. So it is naive to think that you could just raise $75,000 and compete against someone who chooses not to participate in that fund.”

Fund Administrator Aly Heimer confirmed that no Republican has qualified for the program in the past. Statewide, legislative candidates can participate in a public-financing program called the Citizens’ Election Fund, and they have, on a bipartisan basis: Heimer noted that 85 percent of state legislative candidates have participated, swearing off special-interest money and agreeing to donation caps in return for the public help.

As the above chart demonstrates, that has produced one of the intended results of public financing: Near-evaporation of donations from not just political committees but also people who do business with government.