In January 2010, a narrow decision by the U.S. Supreme Court ruled for Citizens United vs. the Federal Election Commission. That ruling wiped out a host of election laws that protected the individual vote of American citizens and allowed huge funds to drive the outcome of elections. Suddenly, my vote seemed diminished. I felt robbed by my own government and was afraid that our Republic was in danger.

Maine Sen. Angus King has made campaign finance reform a major tenet. He stands firm in the belief that “dark money” should not buy elections, nor should special-interest groups dictate our nation’s policy. He is a co-sponsor of the We the People Democracy Reform Act and introduced the Real Time Transparency Act, which would require the disclosure of major federal campaign donations within 48 hours, and a co-sponsor of the DISCLOSE Act, which would require an organization that spends $10,000 or more during an election cycle to file a report with the FEC within 24 hours.

King has made campaign finance much more transparent and desires unequivocally that the citizens of Maine always feel confident that their vote counts.

Dr. Richard Jorgensen
Portland