Comments on: Does big money rule politics? https://www.overlawyered.com/2014/11/big-money-rule-politics/ Chronicling the high cost of our legal system Fri, 07 Nov 2014 00:14:07 +0000 hourly 1 By: gitarcarver https://www.overlawyered.com/2014/11/big-money-rule-politics/comment-page-1/#comment-311410 Thu, 06 Nov 2014 20:06:34 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/?p=49274#comment-311410 I am a very strict believer in the idea that “all politics is local.” While the Maryland race is a good example of your point at the state level, I supported a friend in a local and much smaller election that demonstrate your point as well.

The friend spent the meager salary they received as a city council member on the election. That’s it. Not a penny more. He accepted no outside money.

His opponent, on the other hand, took a lot of money from outside sources – including sources outside the city.

The result was that the friend spent about 40 cents on every vote cast while his opponent spent closer to $5.00 per vote cast. In the media barrage were mailers, flyers, tee-shirts and even robo calls.

When the votes were counted, my friend had won a convincing victory capturing 58% of the vote to 42% for his opponent.

Message, integrity and freedom of speech still have a place in elections.

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