Betsy SweetCompte certifié

A [THREAD] On my life's work getting money out of politics: When someone says, "End Citizen's United" — I totally agree. And I say: "And then what??" Our political system was corrupted long before the Citizen's United ruling in 2010.

It's not enough to refuse corporate PAC donations (though I do) It's not enough to refuse federal lobbyist contributions (and I do) It's not enough to say we'll end Citizen's United (and, yes, I support, that, too)

I helped write & pass Maine's Clean Elections system back in 1996. A group of us created that system because we were horrified that a state senate race back then cost over $7,000. (It's 10X that now..) So we organized. We passed that legislation, the first in the nation.

Maine's Clean Election's system is a public financing program. It means that anyone who wants to run for office can organize & run. You don't need big money; you need broad grassroots support in the form of $5 qualifying contributions.

I was the only Democratic candidate for governor who qualified for the system in 2018. That involved getting more than 3,000 grassroots $5 qualifying contributions from Maine voters. A cool part? An independent and a Republican qualified, too.