Time to overhaul Ky’s campaign finance to bigger donations and more accountability. | Opinion

The 2023 election in Kentucky will once again set records for spending. With 2024 looming large, there is a lot at stake for both parties on a national level; the outcome will likely set the political talking points for the country as we move into the presidential primaries. Thanks to the importance of the election and Kentucky’s relatively low $2,000 campaign donation limits, well-funded, anonymous ‘dark money’ groups are anticipated to dwarf both the candidate and party spending in 2023.

It doesn’t have to be like this — it’s time for a change.

From Swift Boat Captains for Truth to pamphlets accusing Andrew Jackson of bigamy, people have always circumvented campaign finance rules to influence American elections. It’s pollyannaish to believe money will ever be taken out of politics. It’s like a river: you can build a dam, but that water is going to flow somewhere. Money always finds a way.

Our current campaign finance system is structured upside-down. Anonymous, unaccountable ‘dark money’ groups have access to unlimited money, with state parties having a higher limit than candidates, who are allowed to raise the least. This ensures ‘dark money’ groups dominate spending at every level, gives a hefty advantage to personally wealthy candidates, who’s only limit is the balance line of their bank account, and it deprives candidates control of their own campaign’s message.

We need to stop tilting at windmills. This money will be spent one way or another; let’s structure our campaign finance laws to acknowledge that truth and even the playing field. Kentucky needs to join the other 11 states that allow unlimited contributions to candidates. Empowering candidates with the highest access to funding will diminish the role of dark money groups, make running for office more accessible to people who aren’t already wealthy, and help clean up toxic messaging in campaigns.

As with every policy change, there needs to be a tradeoff. In this case, it’s subjecting campaigns to increased transparency and accountability in exchange for dropping the limits.

To make this work, we’ll need more frequent regular reporting as well as special filings. Many states with no limits require anyone receiving a donation of, say, over $10,000, to report it within 48 hours. Monthly reports through the year, weekly reporting the final month of the campaign, and a 48-hour rule for larger donations would provide the transparency needed to gain the public’s trust.

For accountability, it’s time to fund and empower the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance. Currently, no one fears KREF. I mean absolutely no one. To call it toothless would be an insult to teeth. If we are going to allow candidates to accept unlimited donations, there needs to be real and serious repercussions to cheating under such a permissible system. KREF needs an entire legislative, regulatory, and technological overhaul to make it the enforcement body needed to ensure the funding of our elections is above reproach.

Finally, in my experience, candidates loathe going negative in ads run in their own name. Decreasing the power of dark money groups will decrease some of the toxic messaging we see in political advertising because the candidates will be buying more of the ads themselves. You’ll still see a lot of what I like to call ‘aggressive contrast’ on issues, but personal, antagonizing attacks will certainly decrease.

Money in politics has always been here. It will never go away. Anyone who believes that is chasing a pipe dream. What we need is a system that allows campaigns to be run in a transparent and accountable manner and gives anyone with a good message, regardless the size of their bank account, the opportunity to raise the funds needed to get that message out. Our current system simply doesn’t do that. It’s time to overhaul Kentucky’s campaign finance laws.

Tres Watson is the former spokesman for the Republican Party of Kentucky, founder of Capitol Reins PR and the host of the Kentucky Politics Weekly Podcast.

This story was originally published January 18, 2023 at 9:55 AM.