Stetson to Introduce Campaign Finance Disclosure Law After Election

Chestertown Town Councilman Marty Stetson said he will soon introduce a measure that requires full campaign finance disclosure in future town elections.

“We don’t have any reporting of how much contributions you get when you run for office,” Stetson said at Monday’s council meeting. “There’s been more money spent on this mayor’s race than all the mayor’s races in the last 20 years. It’s just unbelievable the amount of money.”

There are currently 12 municipalities in Maryland that have recently passed local campaign finance laws.

“We don’t have that system [and] we’re going to get it,” Stetson said.

Stetson said he will start asking anyone with business before the town if they’ve contributed to any of the candidates. He also said he would poll council members on where they got their contributions.

“If you’ve gotten a bunch of money from somebody, you’ve got no business voting for something that comes before this council,” Stetson said.

Hear Stetson’s full comment. The video is under 2 minutes.