Pete Ashdown on Government Reform

Supports public election financing

Campaign finance is an issue that I am intimate with through this campaign. It is arduous for non-incumbents and heavily advantageous for incumbents. I support public financing in the same model as what has been done in Arizona. Anyone should be encouraged to run for any office; right now, however, finance is an enormous wall that stops most people from considering candidacy. Source: Campaign website, peteashdown.org, "Issues" Jun 21, 2006

Opposes term limits; but choose Senate leaders by lottery

The problem with term limits is that we have congressional rules which reward incumbency. The more seniority an incumbent has, the more likely they are to chair committees, decide on rules for hearings, and exercise power. Committee leadership should be chosen by lottery of interested participants. This would negate the "seniority" factor in campaigns. I do not favor hard term limits as it works against democratic choice. If voters want a representative for life, then the voters should have that option. Source: Campaign website, peteashdown.org, "Issues" Jun 21, 2006

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