Big news from North Carolina yesterday! After the House passed the Voter-Owned Elections Act (VOEA) earlier this week, the state Senate followed the House’s lead and approved the VOEA, which will bring Clean Elections campaign reform to three of North Carolina’s Council of State seats. Once the governor signs the bill, and it looks like he will, candidates for State Auditor, Insurance Commissioner and Superintendent of Public Instruction will have the opportunity to opt in to a full public financing for their campaigns. (Candidates for the Supreme and Appellate courts in the state do now.)

North Carolina, which has pioneered the judicial public financing program, has been looking to expand their Voter-Owned Elections policy to other offices. After a series of pay-to-play scandals, which just recently led to the conviction of former House Speaker Jim Black, the state is anxious to take action against corruption and this bill is a great first step. Just as judicial public financing paved the way for this bill, so too should this program lead to Clean Elections for all Council of State races and, eventually, legislative and statewide races.