The early returns are in – and tweaks are likely needed for the state’s publicly funded campaign system.

We noted recently that Democrat Michael Bobseine has received $109,530 in public campaign money from the state. Assemblyman Andrew Goodell, R-Jamestown, kept between $57,824.15 and $59,607.31 in his campaign account in 2022, the last year he ran a campaign for the 150th Assembly District.

It’s not a bad thing, particularly for challengers, to be able to quickly match an incumbent’s political spending power. State election funding can level a playing field that is often tilted toward incumbents.

But we do question the largesse the state’s matching donation system encourages. The Assembly race, three months before the November election, has now generated more money than was spent in the 2022 election. If Andrew Molitor also qualifies for state election money this may quickly turn into the most expensive state Assembly election in recent memory in our neck of the woods.

There is legislation introduced this year that might help deal with the state’s generosity. A.10539/S.9835, was introduced by Sen. James Skoufis, D-Cornwall, and Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli, D-Syracuse, that would require candidates to repay to the state unspent public matching funds rather than rolling them over to another election cycle. That bill was introduced so late in the legislative session that it didn’t advance out of committee. If the state is going to send large sums of money into Assembly and Senate races in rural areas, it should recoup money that isn’t spent.

Sending $12 of state funding for every $1 raised locally is too much, particularly in rural counties. The state isn’t necessarily wrong for wanting to write checks for local campaigns. But the checks shouldn’t be blank ones, either.