All three of Bloomington’s mayoral candidates have said they are against corporate campaign donations.
John Hamilton, the first candidate to announce his candidacy for mayor, issued a challenge in a press release statement calling for his fellow candidates to not take ?corporate donations.
“Just because it is legal doesn’t mean we should do it,” Hamilton said. “Bloomington is a progressive city, and we should keep direct corporate cash out of our ?elections.”
Both of his opponents, who said they are strong supporters of overturning the Citizen United decision, accepted the challenge Hamilton issued.
“I already wasn’t planning to take corporate money,” Neher said in an email. “It was so obvious, it never occurred to me that anyone would need to issue a ‘challenge’ about it.”
John Linnemeier, who is currently out of the country, said he welcomed Hamilton’s challenge.
“The idea that money is speech and corporations are people is repugnant to me,” Linnemeier said in an email. “The Citizens United decision exacerbates a situation where lobbyists are practically writing our laws for us already.”
It seems the candidates’ thoughts on campaign finance reform are timely.
In his Jan. 20 State of the Union address, President Obama mentioned the corrupting influence of what he called “dark money” in ?politics.
The debate over campaign finance reform has taken place nationally with Democrats in congress criticizing the influence of particular donors, such as Charles and David Koch.
But whether corporate, PAC or union money corrupt the political process, Americans widely believe it does.
According to a Associated Press National Constitution Center poll, more than 8 in 10 Americans support limits on political donations by groups.
But it is unclear from a local perspective what can be done about reversing Citizens United. In 2012, the Bloomington City Council passed resolution 12-09, which supports an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would limit corporate political ?donations.
Neher, who has represented the 5th District on the city council since 2012, voted in favor of the resolution, which was signed by Mayor Mark Kruzan.
Though Neher said local elections see little in the way of donations from corporations and unions, he plans on running his campaign on ?principals.
Hamilton said he wants Bloomington to become a model for how elections are run.
“I think there is a lot of work to be done to improve elections across Indiana, across the country,” Hamilton said. “I’m focused on the Bloomington election. I’m ?trying to do that election well.”
