Bustamante joins Camejo and Huffington in Support of Full Public Financing of Campaigns
Los Angeles, CA ( September 18, 2003) Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante became the latest major gubernatorial candidate to support full public funding of state election campaign. The endorsement occurred during an exchange between candidates at Wednesday¹s debate at the Los Angeles Press Club. When criticized by State Senator Tom McClintock on the Lt. Governor¹s campaign contributions from Native American gaming tribes, Bustamante responded ³the only way to resolve it, finally, is full public financing.²
Bustamante joins Green Party candidate Peter Camejo and Independent candidate Arianna Huffington in supporting a public financing alternative. Ms. Huffington has championed this issue in her campaign and has announce her intention to submit a ballot initiative to establish a program called ³Clean Money / Clean Elections² for California state elections.
Bustamante¹s support for public financing marks the first time a major Democratic candidate has openly declared the need for this reform. Antonio Gonzalez, president of William C. Velasquez Institute, remarked, "I salute Lt. Governor Bustamante for his leadership on public financing. While Mr. Camejo and Ms. Huffington have previously supported public financing for California elections, Mr. Bustamante¹s endorsement of the concept adds unprecedented legitimacy to the cause of public financing. This represents a new direction for Democrats towards ending the insidious influence of big special interest money in politics. I look forward to working with him in his efforts, regardless of the outcome of the elections." Executive Director, Jim B. Clarke, of California Clean Money Campaign said, ³We are pleased that this issue has been injected into the debate and delighted that three of the five major gubernatorial candidates have come out to support public financing².
The California Clean Money Campaign and William C. Velasquez Institute are working towards bringing public financing campaigns to California. California Clean Money Campaign is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan organization established to educate Californians about the growing cost and problem of campaign fundraising. WCVI is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, Latino oriented research and policy think tank with offices in Los Angeles and San Antonio. For more information see www.wcvi.org. |
