Maine Citizens Celebrate 10 Years of Clean Elections
2010: Celebrating 10 Years of Clean Elections!
20/10 Tour Kick-Off Press Conference
20/10 Tour Kick-Off Press Conference
Last Fall, we traveled the state to celebrate 10 years of
Clean Elections, reconnecting with the people who made the law possible - Maine
voters. Our 20/10 Tour, which featured a host of MCCE supporters and volunteers, stopped at Rotary clubs, community groups, and local media in more than twenty towns and communities across the state to talk about the commitment made by Maine
people in passing the act and its success to date.
Press Release: Clean Elections Tour Kicks Off: 20/10 Tour Celebrates 10 Years of Clean Elections - 9/9/2010 (PDF)
MCCE Co-Chair Alison Smith talks about the 20/10 Tour on WGAN - 9/9/2010
20/10 Tour: On the Road with MCCE
Approved by citizen referendum in 1996, the Maine Clean Election Act went into effect in 2000,
and today the system is used by about 80% of Maine candidates across the state and in all
parties. Candidates like it because it allows them to run better
campaigns - campaigns that are focused on voters, not donors. And voters
like it because they know their representatives will serve without ties to
special interests.
Each stop on the 20/10 Tour featured a presentation that tells the story of Clean Elections, captures the vision of Maine people in passing the act, and shows clearly why the law is a model for the nation.
Watch MCCE Co-Chair Alison Smith deliver the presentation at the Farmington Rotary - 10/28/2010
One Anniversary, Two Great Events
On November 18, MCCE capped off the year with two 10th anniversary events in Portland. The undisputed highlight
of the afternoon event, The Road to Clean Elections - First Stop:
Maine, was the PowerPoint presentation by Professor Lawrence
Lessig. Check out this LINK
if you missed it. Nick Nyhart, President of Public Campaign,
and Brenda Wright, Director of the Democracy Program at Demos,
filled out the panel which was ably moderated by Governor Angus
King. No one left that event without a clear understanding of the
crucial role the State of Maine has to
play in every future effort at reform. Maine Public Radio's Speaking in Maine later aired the panel discussion. Click here to listen.
After the panel discussion, the party moved to Port City Music Hall and our Everybody Wins! 10th Anniversary Celebration where Mainers who were part of the signature-gathering in 1995 mingled with legislators who just won their race using our now well-established system. Former Senate Presidents Beth Edmonds and Rick Bennett emceed, speakers rallied the crowd around the importance of Maine to the rest of the country, and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree capped off the evening with some words of inspiration. Everybody was a star as we recognized each group and individual who made the idea of Clean Elections into the successful bipartisan system we have today.
