Maine Voters Did It in 2024

What Does It Mean for Minnesota

Super PACs are separate from campaign organizations, and contributions to them by individuals and corporations are not subject to the limits placed on contributions to candidates by individuals and traditional PACs. In 2024 one wealthy man was able to legally give over a quarter-billion dollars to a single Super PAC to influence the election. Fed up with the political power of Super PACs, in November Maine voters by a 3-1 margin limited Super PAC donations to $5,000 per person. Harvard Law’s Professor Lawrence Lessig and Maine’s State Senator Rick  Bennett (R) championed the effort.

Lawrence Lessig is a Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School. Lessig is the founder of Equal Citizens, a nonprofit working to strengthen the voices of ordinary citizens in politics. His current work addresses the failure of democracy and innovations to reform democracy. Senator Rick Bennett, a Maine native, has served 16 years in the state legislature, including time as President of the State Senate. He has earned a reputation as a reformer and an advocate for fiscal discipline, government accountability and election integrity.