For the first time in the District’s political history, candidates for public office can receive public financing for their electoral bids, thanks to a newly implemented program called “Fair Elections.” And most of the declared candidates so far are intending to do—or already have done—just that, according to recent data from the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance.
As of Jan. 27, 29 total candidates running in either the June 2 primaries or the November 3 general election had registered for the program (though not all those candidates had been certified), and more than $734,000 had been disbursed to their campaigns by the city. The candidates include those competing for ward-level and citywide seats on the D.C. Council and the D.C. State Board of Education. The dollar figure accounts for initial base payments remitted to those who have met certain requirements in the Fair Elections program, plus 5:1 matching funds.
The program, which caps individual donations at small dollar amounts (for example, $50 and $100 per donor for ward and at-large council races, respectively) and bans corporate and PAC donations, has a budget of about $3 million for the current fiscal year. OCF records show that in the days following Jan. 27, additional candidates have registered for the program, including Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White and former (disgraced) Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans, who in past campaigns raised hundreds of thousands of dollars under less-restrictive, traditional rules.
The number of participating candidates is likely to grow even more as new candidates enter the primary and general election. Nominating petitions for the primaries are due to the D.C. Board of Elections March 4; those for the general election are due August 5. The at-large council race, in which a dozen people have already declared their candidacies, is expected to be especially competitive because of the vacancy created by incumbent David Grosso’s decision not to seek reelection.
Proponents of the Fair Elections program—passed unanimously into law by councilmembers in 2018 but not implemented in time for District elections that year—say it’s helping novice candidates run for office, whether against entrenched incumbents or for open seats. Over 3,300 small-dollar donors gave to registered campaigns as of Jan. 27, reports OCF. The program limits the matching funds candidates can receive to specific maximums, depending on the office sought: $308,639 for at-large seats and $241,055 for ward seats, for instance. Once candidates reach these maximums, they can continue to fundraise, but those contributions would not be matched.
In a statement, OCF says Fair Elections “has generated a lot of interest,” with more candidates participating in it than in the traditional campaign finance program. The office notes that most of the current candidates in Fair Elections are first-timers, which suggests “the program has reached one of its stated goals of greater participation in the electoral process.”
Meanwhile, as of Jan. 30, 23 candidates had filed papers with OCF to fundraise in the traditional way. That includes most of the council incumbents whose seats are up for grabs this year, among them: At-large Councilmember Robert White, Ward 4 Councilmember Brandon Todd, and Ward 7 Councilmember Vincent Gray. (All voted in favor of the Fair Elections bill in 2018.) This means they can accept contributions in higher dollar amounts from individuals, corporations, and PACs. The traditional campaign finance limits on individual contributions are $1,000 for at-large council seats and $500 for ward seats.
Take the Ward 4 race as an example. Since filing for reelection last May, Todd has raised roughly $422,000 and currently has $367,000 in cash on hand. One of his challengers, first-time candidate Janeese Lewis George, who filed election papers last August and is participating in Fair Elections, has raised about $123,000 and currently has $91,000 in cash on hand.
In addition to the Ward 4 race, there are D.C. Council races happening in Ward 2, Ward 7, Ward 8, and for two at-large seats.
