It’s time for publicly financed elections

We’ve created a system where money buys elections. Those who want to serve and represent their communities first need to acquire tons of cash. Without it, there is almost no chance of success.

This has left us with a limited supply of candidates both willing and able to challenge incumbents. Out of the 64 Senate and House seats up for election this year, only 34 drew challengers. Many of the uncontested seats are held by incumbents who have between $100,000 and $300,000 in campaign reserves—more than enough to scare off potential competition.

Factor in that we live in a state with one dominant political party, and almost all of our elections go either uncontested entirely, or are won by those who spend the most money. And that’s, frankly, bad for democracy.

Looking at things through this lens, it becomes apparent why an almost entirely Democratic Legislature has failed to deliver on many of the goals outlined by the Democratic Party itself: things like livable wages, universal access to housing and a properly funded education system. The power does not rest with the people, but with monied interests that see no need to realize those goals.

The membership of the Hawaiʻi Democratic Party, however, does support these goals and recognizes the effects of money in politics: Its 2018 convention delegates passed a resolution urging our representatives to establish a fully publicly-financed election system. This system would allow any candidate to spend up to a certain amount of public funds for their campaign, as long as they get enough signatures from their constituents. These funds would give all candidates a chance to fairly compete with monied interests. This program would cost less than one-tenth of 1 percent of the state budget, and would remove the giant “For Sale” sign from above our state Capitol.