In Minnesota, campaign spending actually fell over the last four years. Incredibly, no legislative candidates in Minnesota ran TV ads in the last election. Wisconsin s airwaves are inundated with negative 30-second ads every election. Minnesota candidates get less than half of their money from private contributors, making them much less reliant on special interest donations than candidates in Wisconsin, where almost all campaign money is raised privately. Minnesota s generous public grants and effective spending limits pay off in other ways, too.
Legislative races are more likely to be contested.
The average margin of victory is smaller and incumbents are less likely to be re-elected. There is a way to make our elections better. Check the box. The public grants to candidates funded by the income tax check-off reduce reliance on special interest money . Every dollar candidates receive in public financing to pay for campaign costs is a dollar they don t have to beg special interest groups and other private donors to give them.