Port: Lawmaker claims public doesn't care how legislative candidates spend campaign money

Port: Lawmaker claims public doesn't care how legislative candidates spend campaign money

BISMARCK — Does the public care how politicians — legislative candidates, specifically — spend their campaign contributions? Rep. Vicki Steiner, R-Dickinson, doesn't think so, and argued as much before a conference committee Tuesday. Her comments dismissing public interest in campaign finance reports were remarkable, but before we get there, let me give you the back story. North Dakota has extremely lax campaign finance laws. Particularly for le…

Port: Some North Dakota lawmakers want less transparency for campaign finances

BISMARCK — Secretary of State Michael Howe will soon be implementing a new system for tracking and disclosing campaign finance data for North Dakota candidates. It's a much-needed update, as anyone who has accessed the current database knows, but however well-designed the database, it's only ever going to be as good as the information candidates are required to report. To that end, Sen. Sean Cleary introduced Senate Bill 2156 which, as it passed…