A Democratic lawmaker championing a petition drive asking voters to repeal a recent Arizona campaign finance law is pulling the plug on the effort.
State Rep. Ken Clark said he’s unable to secure the financial backing to hire paid petition circulators and collect the needed 75,000 signatures before the ballot deadline early next month.
The Phoenix Democrat sponsored the initiative to let the public decide on legislation that he contends limits disclosure and increases spending by anonymous political donors.
“The general public understands that dark money is bad," Clark said. "The polls indicate that, but we were not able to convince the larger money donors to come in and help us."
Supporters of the new law signed by Gov. Doug Ducey earlier this year say it's designed to simplify the state's campaign finance code and promote free speech.
Clark has dubbed it the"Dark Money Act" and believes it was a veiled attempt to allow big money interests to anonymously intimidate elected officials.
