Press release from Common Cause, MoveOn.org Political Action, and Public Campaign Action Fund

Washington, DC—New polls find that voters in 19 of the most competitive Congressional districts believe that Congress has done too little to reduce the influence of special interests in Washington, and that candidates who support comprehensive campaign finance reform legislation will be rewarded with greater support from voters.

The polls were conducted by SurveyUSA for Common Cause, MoveOn.org Political Action, and Public Campaign Action Fund.

“Americans think Washington is broken and they want Congress to act,” said Nick Nyhart, executive director of Public Campaign Action Fund. “And today’s polling shows that members of Congress would see a political benefit from co-sponsoring and passing the Fair Elections Now Act.”

“Bold reform is good politics for Republican, Democratic and Independent candidates alike,” said Bob Edgar, president and CEO of Common Cause. “So far Congress has talked only about baby steps to break the grip that special interests hold over Washington. These poll results show Americans are hungry to change the way we pay for political campaigns by enacting a system where candidates can run on small donations and public funding.”  

“We have seen in the health care debate, in the financial reform debate and in the energy debate the incredible power corporate interests have in Washington,” said Justin Ruben, Executive Director of MoveOn. “These polls show that voters do not want incremental change, they want a complete overhaul of how Congress operates and how campaigns are funded.”

The survey results, as averaged across the 19 districts, found that:

• A significant segment of voters – by a 40 percent to 23 percent margin – would be more likely to vote for their Member of Congress if he or she supported the Fair Elections Now Act. This holds true across the political spectrum.
• Sixty-seven percent of voters disagree with the Supreme Court’s decision that corporations should be able to spend money on elections.
• Eighty-seven percent say that members of Congress are influenced more by donors than by constituents’ views. Twelve percent think it’s the other way around.

The Fair Elections Now Act would allow grassroots candidates to run for Congress without support from big corporations by providing four-to-one matching funds on in-state donations of $100 or less. Sponsored by Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) and Walter Jones (R-N.C.), the Fair Elections Now Act has the broad bipartisan support of 140 House members.

The polls were conducted by SurveyUSA from March 10-March 14, 2010. Nearly 10,000 voters were surveyed. The individual district surveys carry a margin of error of between 4.1 to 4.3 percent. The complete list of districts and results, as well as an analysis memo, can be found at www.fairelectionsnow.org/2010march-polling.

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