Campaign Finance

“Governor Hochul — and all lawmakers — should be focused on passing the state budget as soon as possible, not fundraising,” said Susan Lerner, executive director of NY Common Cause. Lerner noted that part of the budget would help fund a new public campaign finance program aimed at reducing the role of fat cat donors in elections. Candidates who accept lower dollar donations would get public matching funds. “If we had a successful and robust public financing program, lawmakers would be concentrated on passing an on-time budget, and not asking wealthy donors to fund their campaigns,” Lerner said.

But one issue trailed him: a complaint had been filed with the Federal Election Commission by the good-government group Common Cause about his payment to Ms. Daniels, which was publicly revealed in January 2018 by The Wall Street Journal.

“Its most immediate impact is that it adds to cynicism among voters,” said Susan Lerner, the executive director of Common Cause New York. “The more money that floods into our system, the more people feel like their interests aren’t heard.”

The verdict has powerful implications for Ohio and the rest of the country because it shows that while Citizens United may have opened the floodgates of corporate cash, “that doesn’t mean that pay-to-play is legal or right,” said Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio and a longtime Ohio advocate of campaign finance and government reform. “Ohioans can rest easy tonight knowing, that at long last, someone will be held accountable,” she said.

“This trial is not just about what the former speaker of the House did, it’s also about the terrible system we have,” said Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio, which advocates for more transparency in government.