The income tax check-off provides funding used for public grants to candidates who agree to limit campaign spending. That ended a decade-long decline in participation. WDC Executive Director Gail Shea called the increase in support for public financing a hopeful sign. People are disgusted by the political arms race and they want spending limits.
Public financing is the only legal way to accomplish that goal.
More and more people are realizing that. Contributing to the state's public campaign fund also proved much more popular than privately donating to the candidates themselves, an analysis of state campaign finance records showed. An estimated 127,000 people made private political contributions to candidates for state office, nearly three times fewer than the 329,000 who supported the election campaign fund. It's significant that three times as many citizens give to the campaign fund than give to the candidates directly. By supporting public financing, taxpayers can get spending limits in return.