An Act to Strengthen the Maine Clean Election Act
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 1787
Committee: Veterans and Legal Affairs
Sponsors: GRAMLICH, BENNETT
Amends: 21-A MRSA §1122, 21-A MRSA §1123, 21-A MRSA §1124, 21-A MRSA §1125, 21-A MRSA §1126

Legislative Document
No. 1787
H.P. 1198
House of Representatives, April 24, 2025
An Act to Strengthen the Maine Clean Election Act
Reference to the Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative GRAMLICH of Old Orchard Beach.
Cosponsored by Senator BENNETT of Oxford and
Representatives: FAIRCLOTH of Bangor, MALON of Biddeford, RANA of Bangor, RIELLY 
of Westbrook, Senators: BEEBE-CENTER of Knox, DUSON of Cumberland, TIPPING of 
Penobscot.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  21-A MRSA §1122, sub-§1, as enacted by IB 1995, c. 1, §17, is amended 
to read:
1.  Certified candidate.  "Certified candidate" means a candidate running for 
Governor, State Senator or, State Representative, district attorney, sheriff or county 
commissioner who chooses to participate in the Maine Clean Election Act and who is 
certified as a Maine Clean Election Act candidate under section 1125, subsection 5.
Sec. 2.  21-A MRSA §1122, sub-§5, as enacted by IB 1995, c. 1, §17, is amended 
to read:
5.  Nonparticipating candidate.  "Nonparticipating candidate" means a candidate 
running for Governor, State Senator or, State Representative, district attorney, sheriff or 
county commissioner who does not choose to participate in the Maine Clean Election Act 
and who is not seeking to be certified as a Maine Clean Election Act candidate under 
section 1125, subsection 5.
Sec. 3.  21-A MRSA §1122, sub-§6, as enacted by IB 1995, c. 1, §17, is amended 
to read:
6.  Participating candidate.  "Participating candidate" means a candidate who is 
running for Governor, State Senator or, State Representative, district attorney, sheriff or 
county commissioner who is seeking to be certified as a Maine Clean Election Act 
candidate under section 1125, subsection 5.
Sec. 4.  21-A MRSA §1122, sub-§8, ¶B, as amended by PL 2009, c. 286, §5, is 
further amended to read:
B.  For State Senate or, State House of Representatives, district attorney, sheriff or 
county commissioner participating candidates, the qualifying period begins January 1st 
of the election year and ends at 5:00 p.m. on April 20th of that election year or the next 
business day following April 20th if the office of the commission is closed on April 
20th.
Sec. 5.  21-A MRSA §1122, sub-§9, as amended by PL 2007, c. 571, §10, is further 
amended to read:
9.  Seed money contribution.  "Seed money contribution" means, for a gubernatorial 
participating candidate, a contribution of no more than $500 per individual made to the 
candidate, including the candidate or the candidate's spouse or domestic partner. For any 
other participating candidate, "seed money contribution" means a contribution of no more 
than $100 per individual made to a the participating candidate, including the candidate or 
the candidate's spouse or domestic partner.
Sec. 6.  21-A MRSA §1123, as enacted by IB 1995, c. 1, §17, is amended to read:
§1123.  Alternative campaign financing option
This chapter establishes an alternative campaign financing option available to 
candidates running for Governor, State Senator and, State Representative, district attorney, 
sheriff or county commissioner.  This alternative campaign financing option is available to 
candidates for elections to be held beginning in the year 2000.  The commission shall 
administer this Act and the fund.  Candidates participating in the Maine Clean Election Act 
must also comply with all other applicable election and campaign laws and regulations.
Sec. 7.  21-A MRSA §1124, sub-§1, as enacted by IB 1995, c. 1, §17, is amended 
to read:
1.  Established.  The Maine Clean Election Fund is established to finance the election 
campaigns of certified Maine Clean Election Act candidates running for Governor, State 
Senator and, State Representative, district attorney, sheriff or county commissioner and to 
pay administrative and enforcement costs of the commission related to this Act.  The fund 
is a special, dedicated, nonlapsing fund and any interest generated by the fund is credited 
to the fund.  The commission shall administer the fund.
Sec. 8.  21-A MRSA §1124, sub-§2, ¶B, as amended by IB 2015, c. 1, §14, is 
further amended to read:
B.  Three million five hundred thousand dollars of the revenues from the taxes imposed 
under Title 36, Parts 3 and 8 and credited to the General Fund, transferred to the fund 
by the State Controller on or before January 1st of each year, beginning January 1, 
1999.  These revenues must be offset in an equitable manner by an equivalent reduction 
in tax expenditures as defined in Title 36, section 199‑A, subsection 2.  This section 
may not affect the funds distributed to the Local Government Fund under Title 30‑A, 
section 5681.
Sec. 9.  21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§2-C, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 132, §10, is 
amended to read:
2-C.  Change in campaign financing.  If a candidate has accepted contributions as a 
candidate for Governor, State Senator or, State Representative, district attorney, sheriff or 
county commissioner that are not seed money contributions as defined in section 1122, 
subsection 9 or do not comply with the seed money restrictions in subsections 2 and 2‑A, 
the candidate is ineligible for certification in the same election cycle.
Sec. 10.  21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§5, as amended by IB 2015, c. 1, §20, is further 
amended by amending the first blocked paragraph to read:
The executive director shall certify a candidate complying with the requirements of this 
section as a Maine Clean Election Act candidate as soon as possible after final submittal of 
qualifying contributions and other supporting documents required under subsection 4 but 
no later than 3 business days for legislative, district attorney, sheriff or county 
commissioner candidates and 5 business days for gubernatorial candidates.  The executive 
director may take additional time if further investigation is necessary to verify compliance 
with this Act as long as the commission notifies the candidate regarding the anticipated 
schedule for conclusion of the investigation.  A candidate or other interested person may 
appeal the decision of the executive director to the members of the commission in 
accordance with subsection 14.
Sec. 11.  21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§7-B, ¶B, as enacted by IB 2015, c. 1, §23, is 
amended to read:
B.  For legislative, district attorney, sheriff or county commissioner candidates, any 
supplemental general election distributions made pursuant to subsections 8‑C and, 8‑D 
and 15 must be made within 3 business days of certification by the commission of the 
required number of additional qualifying contributions.
Sec. 12.  21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§8-E, ¶B, as enacted by IB 2015, c. 1, §25, is 
amended to read:
B.  For legislative candidates and candidates for district attorney, sheriff or county 
commissioner, no earlier than January 1st of the election year and no later than 3 weeks 
before election day.
Sec. 13.  21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§8-F, as enacted by IB 2015, c. 1, §25, is 
amended to read:
8-F.  Amount of distributions.  On December 1st of each even-numbered year the 
commission shall review and adjust the distribution amounts for legislative candidates in 
subsections 8‑B to 8‑D and the distribution amounts for candidates for district attorney, 
sheriff and county commissioner established by the commission based on the Consumer 
Price Index as reported by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor 
Statistics.  If an adjustment is warranted by the Consumer Price Index, the distribution 
amounts must be adjusted, rounded to the nearest amount divisible by $25.  When making 
adjustments under this subsection, the commission may not change the number of 
qualifying contributions or additional qualifying contributions required to trigger an initial 
distribution or an increment of supplemental distribution.  The commission shall post 
information about the distribution amounts including the date of any adjustment on its 
publicly accessible website and include this information with any publication to be used as 
a guide for candidates.
Sec. 14.  21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§10, as amended by IB 2015, c. 1, §26, is further 
amended to read:
10.  Candidate not enrolled in a party.  An unenrolled candidate for the Legislature 
or district attorney, sheriff or county commissioner who submits the required number of 
qualifying contributions and other required documents under subsection 4 by 5:00 p.m. on 
April 20th preceding the primary election and who is certified is eligible for revenues from 
the fund in the same amounts and at the same time as an uncontested primary election 
candidate and a general election candidate as specified in subsections 7, 8‑C and, 8‑D and 
15.  Revenues for the general election must be distributed to the candidate as specified in 
subsection 7.  An unenrolled candidate for Governor who submits the required number of 
qualifying contributions and other required documents under subsection 4 by 5:00 p.m. on 
April 1st preceding the primary election and who is certified is eligible for revenues from 
the fund in the same amounts and at the same time as an uncontested primary election 
gubernatorial candidate and a general election gubernatorial candidate as specified in 
subsections 7 and 8‑B.  Revenues for the general election must be distributed to the 
candidate for Governor as specified in subsection 7.
Sec. 15.  21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§15 is enacted to read:
15.  Terms of participation for certain county candidates.  The commission shall 
establish terms of participation for a candidate for district attorney, sheriff and county 
commissioner that allow the candidate to qualify and participate as a Maine Clean Election 
Act candidate starting with the 2026 election cycle.  The terms of participation established 
by the commission must set forth the total seed money contribution limits, the number of 
qualifying contributions and distribution amounts for each county office.  When 
establishing the terms of participation, the commission shall consider the terms of 
participation for gubernatorial and legislative candidates set forth in this chapter, including 
an assessment of the difficulty of qualifying and distribution amounts available to 
participating State Senate and State House of Representatives candidates and gubernatorial 
candidates relative to the population of State Senate and State House of Representatives 
districts and the State.  The commission shall also consider historical spending patterns for 
the various county races in contested and uncontested primary and general elections, the 
population of the electoral district of a district attorney, sheriff or county commissioner, 
the competitiveness of the office and any other factors the commission determines to be 
consistent with the purposes of this chapter.  If the geographic area or population of the 
electoral district for a district attorney, sheriff or county commissioner varies substantially 
across the State, the commission may establish different terms of participation that 
reasonably relate to the difference in geographic area or population.  If necessary, the 
commission may use the emergency rule-making provisions of Title 5, section 8054 
without making findings of emergency for purposes of establishing these terms of 
participation in advance of the 2026 election cycle.
Sec. 16.  21-A MRSA §1126, as amended by PL 2023, c. 211, §5, is further amended 
to read:
§1126.  Commission to adopt rules
The commission shall adopt rules to ensure effective administration of this chapter.  
These rules must include but may not be limited to procedures for obtaining qualifying 
contributions, certification as a Maine Clean Election Act candidate, circumstances 
involving special elections, recounts, collection of revenues for the fund, distribution of 
fund revenue to certified candidates, return of unspent fund disbursements, disposition of 
equipment purchased with clean election funds and compliance with the Maine Clean 
Election Act and terms of participation for candidates for district attorney, sheriff and 
county commissioner.  Rules of the commission required by this section are major 
substantive rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2‑A.
SUMMARY
This bill allows candidates for district attorney, sheriff and county commissioner to 
participate in the Maine Clean Election Act and directs the Commission on Governmental 
Ethics and Election Practices to specify the terms of participation by rule.  The bill also 
increases the amount transferred to the Maine Clean Election Fund each year and increases 
the contribution limits for gubernatorial seed money contributions to $500 per individual.