Campaign finance reform should unite us all | Opinion
I’ve been teaching politics at colleges and universities in Central Kentucky for nearly a decade. I’ve spent countless hours looking at research on campaign funding, lobbying, and political influence. I’ve looked at politicians’ campaign funding data on the Federal Election Commission’s website, and I’ve examined politicians’ profiles on the campaign finance and lobbying transparency website Open Secrets. All of this has proved to me what most people instinctively know: politicians represent their rich campaign donors. The campaign funding for the Democrats and Republicans in the race for U.S. Congress in Kentucky’s sixth congressional district makes it clear that whoever wins the Democratic and Republican primary elections on May 19, they won’t represent average Kentuckians. None of them get even 30% of their funding from small donations of under $200, so every single one of them would represent the rich. That’s the bad news: none of the Democratic or Republican candidates in KY-6 will represent you, and a vote for either is a vote for a candidate who is backed primarily by wealthy donors. But there is good news, too. While only 2% of politicians in Congress get most of their funding through small donations of under $200, Kentuckians in KY-6 will have the unusual opportunity to vote for a candidate funded by small donors. I’m running a third-party campaign in KY-6 with the Kentucky Party, and I’m committed to making sure that at least 75% of my campaign funding comes from small donations of under $200. Nobody in Congress is even willing to make that kind of promise. This means that, if elected to Congress in KY-6, I will be uniquely positioned to sincerely support policies that benefit most Americans rather than being what most candidates are: puppets for billionaires and multimillionaires. My background in political science, my pro-people campaign funding, and my rejection of both major parties make me uniquely qualified to tell the truths that Democrats and Republicans won’t, starting with this: Republican politicians openly support the political agenda of the billionaire class, and the Democratic Party is their intentionally feckless controlled opposition. The parties are different, but make no mistake: both work for the billionaire class. And both parties will continue to represent the billionaire class as long as we keep electing people who rely on large donations and PAC funding instead of small donors. In November, if you cast a vote for Pete Lynch and the Kentucky Party, you’ll be voting for someone who is funded by average Americans and can be counted on to support:
- Campaign finance reform
- Medicare for All
- A moratorium on new data centers
- The legalization of recreational marijuana
- Free public higher education and job training
- Affordable housing
- Ending the war in Iran
- The end of US funding for Israel
- Taxing billionaires
It may be tempting to think that a third-party vote is a wasted vote. But the opposite is true: a vote for a Democrat or a Republican is a wasted vote, because both candidates — regardless of who wins on May 19 — will be someone who represents rich campaign donors. If you want your vote to matter, you should cast a vote for Pete Lynch and the Kentucky Party in KY-6. If you’d like to volunteer for or donate, please don’t hesitate to visit the campaign website (PeteLynchForKentucky.com). You can also follow the campaign on social media: Instagram: PeteLynchForKentucky Twitter: PeteLynch4KY Facebook: Pete Lynch For Kentucky If you’d like to look up the campaign funding for all candidates who have raised or spent at least $5,000 (so you won’t see me), go to https://www.fec.gov/.
We hope to hear from you soon!
Pete Lynch is a faculty member at the University of Kentucky who is running a third-party campaign for Kentucky’s Sixth District under the Kentucky Party.