Campaign Finance Advocates Renew Push To Make Rhode Island Elections More Competitive
A newly introduced bill in the General Assembly aims to make legislative and statewide elections in Rhode Island more competitive by giving under-funded candidates financial help against deeper-pocketed rivals. The legislation introduced Tuesday by state Rep. Rebecca Kislak (Providence) and state Sen. James Sheehan (North Kingstown) has two main components: it would extend Rhode Island’s existing voluntary public financing system for the state’s five general offices to include primaries. This time around, Common Cause worked with the Washington, D.C.-based Campaign Legal Center to develop legislation based on a “democracy voucher” model in Seattle.