What Happens To All That Leftover Presidential Campaign Cash?
It’s against the law to use it for personal expenses. But there are plenty of other options.
and have ended their campaigns for president.
What happens to the money they have raised, but not yet spent?
The amounts could be substantial. Financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission indicate that as of Dec. 31, candidates who had already dropped out still had plenty in the bank.
Former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke , but at year鈥檚 end still had $360,000 in the bank. Sen. Kamala Harris, who , reported having .
Other candidates who dropped out in January had large sums on hand not long before they ended their campaigns: had $950,000 on Dec. 31, and dropped out two days later. Less than two weeks before they exited, had $330,000 and had $4.2 million.
I about campaign finance law. There is one clear rule about that money: Candidates , like mortgage payments, groceries, clothing purchases or vacations. But there are a lot of other options, both within politics and outside of it.
Paying What鈥檚 Owed
The first use for money from a candidate who has just quit the campaign is generally to pay the cost of winding things up. Just because someone announces they鈥檙e out, their expenses don鈥檛 stop right away. They may still owe rent on office space, as well as fees for services like polling and transportation and for staff salaries.
Some campaigns , or to fill their accounts, and those still need to be repaid.
Candidates whose campaigns have ended but who are still handling outstanding expenses need to keep with the FEC. Once those expenses are paid, there may not be much left.
At times, candidates need to keep fundraising after they drop out, just to pay off the bills they ran up while running. Six months after they dropped out of the 2012 presidential nomination race, failed Republican candidates Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum were . Former presidential candidates Rudy Giuliani, Dennis Kucinich and John Edwards their campaign debts.
Saving For The Future
If there鈥檚 anything left over after all the bills are paid, the candidate has a few options.
For some politicians, the most likely use is to help pay for their next campaign. Booker, for instance, is up for reelection to his Senate seat. Once his presidential campaign has paid off any debts it may owe, he can to his senatorial reelection campaign fund.
If he, or any other candidate, wants to run for president again in the future, it鈥檚 easy enough to transfer the funds to a committee for the 2024 campaign season.
For some politicians, the most likely use is to help pay for their next campaign.
A former candidate can also use any excess funds to create a so-called 鈥,鈥 which is a political committee that can be controlled by the former candidate but is not used to support that person鈥檚 campaigns. Instead, it backs a political agenda 鈥 including other candidates 鈥 the candidate supports. Leadership PACs have been criticized for functioning as 鈥溾 for politicians to spend on they can鈥檛 buy with regular campaign donations.
Sharing The Wealth
Instead of using the money for the candidate鈥檚 own political purposes, people who drop out can donate their money to other campaigns or candidates. There are on how much they can give to a national, state or local party committee 鈥 such as the Democratic National Committee.
They can also give money to , depending on state campaign finance laws, or to each of one or more candidates for federal office.
A former candidate can also . This seems most likely to occur when a candidate is retiring from public life. For instance, former Sen. Joseph Lieberman transferred funds from his Senate campaign fund and his leadership PAC to a for high school students from his state, Connecticut. He used other leftover campaign money to organize his political and campaign papers to .
A former candidate with excess funds has two more possibilities. She can do nothing at all and just keep the cash in the bank. In 2014, an analysis found ex-candidates, Republicans and Democrats alike, had in unused campaign funds just waiting for account holders to decide what to do.
If the person really doesn鈥檛 want all that cash on hand, the law is vague on what鈥檚 next 鈥 it can be used 鈥,鈥 besides personal use. For example, former Democratic Congressman Marty Meehan of Massachusetts for his former colleague, Barney Frank.
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