Mainers overwhelmingly support campaign finance reform

Maine voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to pass Question 1, which would limit unlimited contributions to certain political committees but may be unconstitutional.

The Yes side had 73.6 percent of the vote to 26.4 percent for the No side when the Bangor Daily News and its national partner, Decision Desk HQ, called the race at 4:55 a.m. Wednesday.

Question 1 would reshape Maine's political system by only allowing individuals and other organizations to donate $5,000 per year to committees that make so-called independent expenditures for or against candidates for office. These contributions are unlimited under Maine and federal law, while there are stricter limits on direct donations to campaigns.

The referendum is the brainchild of Harvard Law School professor Lawrence Lessig, whose nonprofit Equal Citizens has supported the Maine campaign largely by funding a $1 million signature drive. The idea was presented as a narrowly crafted way to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark 2010 decision to lift restrictions on corporate political efforts.

In the decade that followed, nonpartisan groups spent $4.5 billion on U.S. elections, according to OpenSecrets, compared to just $750 million in the previous two decades. This trend has also impacted local politics in Maine, where the $5.4 million spent by outside groups to influence the 2024 general election exceeds the $5 million spent by all campaigns combined.

However, question 1 is likely to encounter legal obstacles. Massachusetts' attorney general refused to place the question on the ballot there in 2022, saying it was unconstitutional. Other referendums in Maine have been ruled illegal by courts after they passed, including one three years ago that sought to block a hydroelectric corridor through western Maine.