Democrats unveil bills on election reform

OLYMPIA – Senate Democrats have unveiled a number of election reform bills, including a measure to have the public pay for state Court of Appeals and Supreme Court campaigns.

The financing measure, sponsored by newly elected Sen. Eric Oemig, D-Kirkland, was in response to the more than $4 million spent on last year’s three state Supreme Court races.

Gov. Chris Gregoire requested the bill and included $4.4 million in her state budget proposal for a pilot project, saying that something has to be done about excessive spending in judicial campaigns.

“This is a responsible approach to examining this issue and bringing it into the public dialogue,” Oemig said Thursday. “You want to make sure our campaigns and our elections and all that spending is truly representing the people.”

The measure would create a voluntary program for public financing, limited to Supreme Court and Court of Appeals candidates.

Justice Richard Sanders, who is opposed to public financing, said that even though the program is voluntary, “You’re being coerced into participating.

“If you don’t, then however successful you are in raising money, the government is going to write a check to your opponent,” he said.

A hearing on the campaign finance bill is set for Thursday. A companion bill is expected in the House, and another bill that pushes for public financing of all legislative and statewide offices was introduced in the House on Wednesday.

A handful of states, including Arizona, have public financing for statewide and legislative races. North Carolina is the only state that has public financing for appellate court candidates, a system put in place two years ago after former Chief Justice Henry Frye spent a record $907,000 in a failed re-election bid in 2000.