The Wall Street Journal reports that Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) will receive a letter today signed by several prominent former politicians, political donors, and clergy urging him to push for publicly financed Voter-Owned Elections for statewide and legislative campaigns in New York. Signed by the likes of former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley and former Mayor Ed Koch, the letter calls for Gov.

Advocates and members of the State Assembly have begun a push to bring publicly financed Voter-Owned Elections to New York state. The proposed measure is popular with the public, as evidenced by a recent Sienna Poll that found that 70 percent of New Yorkers support publicly financed Voter-Owned Elections.

In his State of the State address today, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) called for a sweeping government reform package that includes public financing of elections for the state legislature. His "Clean Up Albany" agenda also calls for outlawing “pay to play” to limit the impact of special interests in the legislative process.

"It's time to pass ethics reform and it's time to pass ethics reform now...We're going to end pay-to-play...and we need public financing of campaigns," said Gov. Cuomo.

It's a day that ends in Y this week, so someone must be getting indicted.

The Justice Department has charged former New York Supreme Court Justice Thomas Spargo with attempted extortion and federal program bribery.

Sen. Hillary Clinton’s (D-N.Y) nomination as Secretary of State has opened up a vacancy with no dearth of applicants in the Empire State.

In the Washington Post today, the reporter and his sources handicap the race. And what was one of the requirements? Fundraising prowess. To be more exact, the candidate must be able to raise an estimated $35 million for their 2010 election to keep the seat.

It’s down to the wire and candidates on both sides of the political aisle are trading barbs on corruption and campaign contributions.

New York Governor David Paterson (D) took some heat when he said he wouldn't push for a Clean Elections public financing bill this year. He said it was for budget reasons but Bethany Foster of The Brennan Center wonders whether that budget shortfall was created by the kind of politics Clean Elections would help combat.

Hey, we know it's hectic when you start a new job but it seems that in all the chaos of assuming office following Eliot Spitzer's rather hasty departure New York Governor David Paterson forgot his reform agenda. The New York Times reminds him what it looked like.

We've seen some rather mixed messages from the Governor. He supports Clean Elections, but seems reluctant to put his weight behind any significant legislation to alter business as usual in Albany:

The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle devotes today's "Friday faceoff" column to opposing views on Clean Elections. The Clean Elections supporter touts the value in cutting the cord between special interest money and legislators, the detractor doesn't like the requirements placed on third party candidates.

Elizabeth Benjamin at the New York Daily News covers New York City Council member Tony Avella's introduction yesterday of Clean Elections legislation to cover city races, an upgrade on New York's existing matching funds program. The article's a bit dismissive of Clean Elections in general but does mention the precedent for pursuing new campaign finance solutions in the city.