Zoe Scontras is a summer intern at the Maine Policy Institute.

Two recent federal court rulings struck down a pair of Maine ballot questions that sought to improve our democracy by minimizing the influence of so-called “dark money” in politics from foreign entities and through new limits on contributions to political action committees.

Unfortunately, these ballot questions failed to address the real issue. Supreme Court precedent is clear that moneyed interests can exercise their speech and association rights in political campaigns, no matter from what side of the aisle this money comes. The real threat to democracy isn’t financial, but rather the erosion of morals in our politics and governance. It’s a problem that only individual action can fix.

A recent Marist poll revealed that Americans are expressing very little faith in their political leadership. This sentiment illustrates a deep disillusionment in the current state of America’s political culture, which is largely filled with power-hungry politicians who abandon their moral compass to gain party control and dominance, mostly at the expense of the public good. There’s also concerns about favoritism, cronyism, nepotism and other issues that undermine people’s faith in our institutions.

Sadly, these kinds of dirty politics aren’t limited to Washington — they’re also present at the state level here in Maine.

Questionable procurement practices were flagged by state auditor Matthew Dunlap in his 2024 auditor’s report. A lack of morals and transparency in governance decays trust in our institutions and further poisons the well of our politics.

Dishonest campaign tactics, too, are often used as ammunition that causes more damage to our democracy and political culture by ultimately misleading the public.

This practice is all too common in Maine politics. A 2022 Maine Public report noted that Maine’s gubernatorial race that year “unleashed a torrent of television and digital ads, many containing dubious claims, omissions of context or outright falsehoods.”

This is hardly anything new. My father, Dean Scontras (one of the last Republican candidates endorsed by the Press Herald), ran for the 1st Congressional District seat against Rep. Chellie Pingree in 2010. In that race, outside groups supporting Chellie Pingree made ads about my dad that painted him as offensive to children, women and veterans. None of the information used in those ads was true.

This kind of hyperbole and dirty politicking — from both sides of the aisle — is rampant in our political culture.

I understand that to be in politics you need to be “a fighter.” You need to be able to take punches and have enough endurance to punch back. I learned this from my dad’s time campaigning. Politics is also a world where perfect peace does not exist, because it is ultimately the job of candidates to confront their differences and help voters determine who is the best choice for their state or country. This is no easy feat.

But when immorality starts to become the primary strategy for political control and dominance, that’s when damage and divide occurs, and Americans lose faith in governance.

While many believe we’re as divided as we’ve ever been, I am still hopeful for the future. We all have the capability to restore morality in our government. We don’t need ballot question campaigns attacking the “dark money” that runs rampant on both sides to improve our politics.

As individuals, we simply need to recognize each other’s humanity — despite our ideological differences — and demand the same from our leaders. Improving our political culture starts and ends with us.