State Integrity Investigation: Keeping Government Honest

The candidates for governor are touting their fundraising ahead of Wednesday's midnight deadline to submit campaign finance.

What we know so far: Republican Ovide Lamontagne says his campaign raised about $1.2 million dollars. Democrat Maggie Hassan, $930,000; Democrat Jackie Cilley about $281 thousand dollars. No word as of Wednesday afternoon from Republican Kevin Smith.

That's what we know; but there’s a lot we don’t know about campaign money. And many election observers say a lot of campaign money won’t ever show up in candidate reports anyway.

With the 2012 primary less than three weeks away, candidates for state office in New Hampshire have until midnight Wednesday to file their first campaign finance reports with the Secretary of State's office.

We sift through a new study that gives New Hampshire low marks in what it calls “integrity” in State government.  While the report says the Granite state does well in some areas like the Executive and Judicial branches, it failed in others like public access to information and ethics enforcement.  We’ll look at what’s behind this report and how some in New Hampshire are reacting to it. 

Guests

 A study released today called the State Integrity Investigation gives New Hampshire a D grade in its political finance laws, citing a poor disclosure calendar and a bad website for displaying campaign donation documents.

But even in a state that prides itself on open government, campaign finance reform has never been an easy sell.