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Questions tagged [campaign-finance]

Campaign finance refers to the rules and regulations governing the raising and spending of funds for a candidate running for office. For questions about the funds themselves use [fundraising] instead.

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Which communist parties use crypto for donations? [closed]

Being aware of the political scene in Russia I noticed that some Communist organisations (specifically Anarcho-Communist) use cryptocurrencies for donations. https://avtonom.org/pages/donate What I ...
Apoliticalboy's user avatar
9 votes
3 answers
2k views

Do US House of Representatives members really need to "bring in a certain amount of donations, frankly, to get some top positions" on committees?

The following exchange between PBS's Geoff Bennett and Lisa Desjardin caught my attention (somewhat after 07:30) in the January 3, 2022 piece House adjourns until Wednesday after McCarthy fails to win ...
uhoh's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
263 views

Is it legal to publicly promise to make a donation in exchange for a politician voting a certain way?

As an example, let's say a new law is currently discussed in US Congress that would boost the production of widgets if passed. Acme corporation makes a lot of widgets and wants the law to succeed. ...
JonathanReez's user avatar
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11 votes
1 answer
1k views

Does the GOP actually have a formal 'neutrality policy' that this unnamed RNC official describes?

This answer to Why would a former US president's announcement of a reelection bid cut off legal defense funds? in toto: From the July 28, 2022 Yahoo article, by Cheryl Teh, The RNC has been helping ...
uhoh's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
204 views

Can large loans be used by companies to circumvent political contribution laws in the United States?

https://youtu.be/CMLQrqYheiY?t=88 In this video, Poilievre describe that large loans are used for companies to give large donations to politicians, these large loans are never to be paid back and are ...
Sayaman's user avatar
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21 votes
4 answers
6k views

Why would a former US president's announcement of a reelection bid cut off legal defense funds?

At the end of CNN's August 9, 2022 video Analysis: How FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago could help Trump in 2024 (after about 10:00) host Brianna Keilar asks about the former US president potentially ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 15.5k
7 votes
1 answer
408 views

How much "Russian money" have Russian oligarchs injected into the UK's economy and contributed to UK politicians?

The following compares statements by two very disparate British commentators, Christopher Steele and the fictional reporter Johnathan Pie. Steele The notes below Sky News' April 1, 2022 Beth Rigby ...
uhoh's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
315 views

Politico's "Sinema rakes in Pharma and finance cash..." A salient issue and an exceptional pattern of donations, or just cherry picking of statistics?

Politico's October 15, 2021 Sinema rakes in Pharma and finance cash amid reconciliation negotiations begins Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) raised more campaign money in the last three months than in ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 15.5k
6 votes
1 answer
625 views

When and from where was the PAC first legally defined

The FEC explains the different types of political action committees (PACs) but did Congress legally define what a PAC is? I'm assuming that the FEC didn't legally define what a PAC is since it is a ...
Alan Wells's user avatar
11 votes
1 answer
412 views

Will any state or federal laws be broken by a rich individual funding the movement and support of South Dakota National Guard troops?

Politico's Billionaire GOP donor is funding South Dakota National Guard border deployment says: Willis Johnson doesn’t live in the state but says he backs Gov. Kristi Noem, a potential presidential ...
uhoh's user avatar
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-1 votes
1 answer
106 views

Is overturning Citizens United part of the Green Party Platform?

Is over turning Citizen's United v. FEC officially part of the Green Party's platform? Does it include other mentions changing campaign finance laws?
Evan Carroll's user avatar
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13 votes
2 answers
987 views

Why does the Biden campaign have a $32 donation tier?

Going onto the Joe Biden website, it's currently asking for donations for his presidential election campaign and potential legal action. Some of the options seem to be quite random though: For those ...
crazyloonybin's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
264 views

Why are there no campaigning caps in US elections?

As far as I'm aware, America doesn't put a cap on how much money you can spend on campaigning. This is unlike countries such as Britain (where the cap is £30,000 per constituency). If the lack of a ...
yolo's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
456 views

How are the 2020 US presidential campaigns now like "a land war in Asia"?

Politico's Bloomberg knocks Trump back on his heels in Florida includes: “It’s forced the Trump campaign to retrench in Florida. You can see it in the spending habits, in television and digital. They’...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 15.5k
4 votes
1 answer
126 views

What advantages does a super PAC enjoy compared to other corporations/nonprofits, especially 501(c)(4)s?

Sorry if this has already been addressed: If I understand correctly, US corporations can make unlimited independent expenditures on US elections after Citizens United v. FEC. Again if I understand ...
capet's user avatar
  • 191
21 votes
4 answers
6k views

Would the hypothetical Exxon call be illegal?

This BBC article quotes Trump suggesting he could quickly raise large amounts of campaign funds by offering things to CEOs. President Trump went on to describe a hypothetical conversation: "How ...
Jontia's user avatar
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4 votes
0 answers
101 views

Why are campaign budgets treated as important?

Plenty of research shows that campaign spending makes very little difference. See this article on FiveThirtyEight, for example. So why does so much news reporting, like this, focus on that topic as ...
Joshua Fox's user avatar
  • 1,081
0 votes
2 answers
137 views

Restarting Presidential campaign after endorsing opponent [duplicate]

Couldn't find answer online, so I'm turning to this community for an answer, Could Senator Sanders, after being taken off of NY's Democratic Primary ballot, legally 'Unsuspend'("Restart") his ...
Boris K.'s user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
147 views

Can candidates in federal elections draw a living wage from their campaign finances?

In federal elections in the US or in similar governments, is it possible for candidates to feed and house themselves and their families from campaign donations? Or do they need to live off of personal ...
uhoh's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
429 views

What are the limits on how much Bloomberg could donate to the Democratic Presidential Candidate in 2020?

Mike Bloomberg is self funding his campaign and with a personal fortune of $65 billion. His campaign spending could be essentially limitless. With this amount of money he could radically outspend ...
SurpriseDog's user avatar
  • 1,583
2 votes
0 answers
50 views

Where are my small contributions in the FEC filings?

I know that I have made several small contributions over the last year, but only one of those contributions/transactions appears when I look at the FEC individual contributions dataset (found here) ...
Nevermore's user avatar
  • 129
5 votes
4 answers
270 views

In the US, is there a reason you can contribute to a politician even if you are not a resident that they represent?

To clarify, since I imagine this is somewhat difficult to discern from a 150 character title limit: Why is it that a resident of Rhode Island may donate to a candidate in Florida in order to bolster ...
NegativeFriction's user avatar
46 votes
5 answers
7k views

Why is it ethical for Ambassador Sondland to have been given an ambassadorship for campaign contributions?

Ambassador Sondland donated 1 million dollars to Trumps inauguration, and then was appointed to a high profile ambassadorship. He never worked in the government previously, has no credentials, no ...
Issel's user avatar
  • 489
0 votes
2 answers
146 views

Do Campaign Contributions go to the politician?

I've seen it stated frequently that large campaign contributions are used, especially by corporations, to buy the influence of a politician. Many places have gone so far as to say that corporate ...
Aetherfox's user avatar
  • 565
3 votes
1 answer
261 views

How unusual is it for a registered foreign agent to have a lead position in a Super Pac in the United States? Is it legal?

While this question addresses if a foreign national can donate to a pac, what about having an officer role in a super pac while registered as a foreign agent? Democratic presidential candidate Joe ...
user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
360 views

What are the political or business connections of Parnas and Fruman in the former USSR countries?

From breaking news in the Guardian: Two associates of Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, have been charged with election finance violations for channeling foreign money into the president’...
Fizz's user avatar
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20 votes
4 answers
3k views

As an electoral candidate, isn't Yang precluded from conducting his "UBI experiment"?

In the US Democratic Party’s presidential primary debate a few days ago, candidate Andrew Yang announced his campaign will conduct a 1-year experiment with Universal Basic Income - by paying USD 1000 ...
einpoklum's user avatar
  • 7,543
5 votes
3 answers
189 views

What is the effect of election campaign donations?

Candidates for the presidential election of the US collect donations in relation to their campaigns. Candidates are sometimes compared based on the total amount of donations they received. But what ...
Volker Siegel's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
246 views

Can foreign national US residents volunteer with US political campaigns?

This question about donating to campaigns as a US resident noncitizen led me to wonder if US resident noncitizens/foreign nationals can volunteer with political campaigns in any capacity (direct voter ...
dcacat's user avatar
  • 51
25 votes
5 answers
5k views

Contributing to a candidate as a Foreign National US Resident?

I'm not sure if this is the correct exchange to be posting this question, so apologies if this is not the right place. I'm a US Resident, currently on a H-1B. I'm not a Green Card holder or a US ...
nikhil's user avatar
  • 361
1 vote
0 answers
98 views

Has there been a potential candidate for a political office in the US where they were paid to terminate their campaign before the election?

Has there been an instance where a potential American candidate was paid to not run for office (e.g., by an incumbent or special interest group)? There are reasons why people don't want someone to run ...
Tom F.'s user avatar
  • 29
0 votes
1 answer
71 views

How did Super PACs affect the magnitude of election spending by wealthy individuals, and why?

The Citizens United campaign decision in the US helped lay the groundwork for the proliferation of Super PACs, and is widely credited with increasing the spending gap between wealthy donors and the ...
Obie 2.0's user avatar
  • 13.3k
28 votes
7 answers
5k views

Ban on all campaign finance?

There is a lot of rhetoric surrounding how politicians in the US obtain money for their campaigns. I am wondering why it is necessary for politicians to have any money for their campaigns, small ...
Him's user avatar
  • 1,109
5 votes
1 answer
1k views

What did Bernie Sanders do with all the cash from his 2016 campaign?

I'm just wondering what happened with hundreds of millions Bernie Sanders raised in 2016. Did he give to the DNC?
Evan Carroll's user avatar
  • 2,868
50 votes
2 answers
19k views

Why is Bernie Sanders maximum accepted donation on actblue $5600?

Check here and try to enter a number higher than $5600. I know this question might be oddly specific, but i have no idea why it would be such an odd number, and not just $5000.
Flying Thunder's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
183 views

To what extent is a US political presidential candidate compromised by PAC funding?

Amy Klobuchar having launched her presidential nomination campaign stated that she would not be taking corporate PAC money. Is that a big irregularity and if so what is the benefit of not taking ...
SeanJ's user avatar
  • 1,017
1 vote
2 answers
169 views

Are there any examples of electoral bonds or similar instruments usage in the Western democracies?

After Reading this question I have searched if any Western democracy have used something similar to make political campaign financing more transparent. From the accepted answer in the aforementioned ...
Alexei's user avatar
  • 52.2k
3 votes
1 answer
87 views

Have any third parties used Maine or Arizona's public financing in their campaigns?

I cannot find evidence for a third party using the public financing option for either state. I can see nothing preventing it and assume they have at some point. Specifically I'm referring to the $5 ...
Brooks Nelson's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
123 views

Allocation of government revenue for campaign spending [closed]

I was thinking about the following and I am interested in other peoples opinions on potential effects. What if the US government where to pass legislation that allocates money for political candidates ...
Jagol95's user avatar
  • 483
36 votes
13 answers
23k views

Why don't the Democrats make a deal to give Trump his border wall in exchange for campaign finance reform?

I feel like this is a unique opportunity to pass effective campaign finance legislation. Politically I think not giving Trump the wall is the better strategy, which may be why such a deal will not ...
Jagol95's user avatar
  • 483
-1 votes
1 answer
162 views

Would this be considered a campaign contribution in the US?

Trying to understand how things other than direct cash donations can also be considered campaign contributions in the US, I've formulated the following scenario to explain the thing of potential value;...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 15.5k
5 votes
1 answer
143 views

Do senators control PACs?

I recently saw a hidden video on Senator Claire McCaskill in which one of her staffers said that "we get a lot of money from Chuck Schumer". The interviewer then asks how this is possible and the ...
Tyler Durden's user avatar
  • 5,114
8 votes
1 answer
404 views

Disclosure and publishing of 'catch and kill' practices favouring a presidential candidate

Catch and kill is the practice by a media outlet to buy the right to a negative story about someone and not publish it so that the story doesn't go public. Suppose this technique was used by a ...
JJJ's user avatar
  • 38.8k
6 votes
1 answer
543 views

Is paying for ex-staff's silence a legal use of campaign funds?

The Trump administration reportedly requires outgoing staff members to sign NDAs (NYT).1,2 Also reported, these agreements provide the staff member a $15,000 per month payment (WaPo) for their silence....
nitsua60's user avatar
  • 321
7 votes
1 answer
333 views

If I were to lose an election for federal office, what can I do with my leftover campaign money?

Suppose I'm running for some federal-level position in the United States. Along the way, I'm raising campaign funding for all of the usual reasons. Then the election comes, but I lose. I still have ...
JesseTG's user avatar
  • 1,617
10 votes
4 answers
516 views

How much do US presidential campaigns spend per vote gained?

I'm interested in knowing just how far my donations to a presidential candidate go in terms of garnering more votes for that candidate. I can find a lot of data on how many votes each presidential ...
Justin Sanders's user avatar
2 votes
3 answers
595 views

Minority Democrat report from Senate Judiciary Committee says Russia funded the Trump campaign via the NRA; what does this mean for the NRA?

This article and others mention that Democrat members of the Senate Judiciary Committee says Russia funded the Trump election campaign via the NRA. Assuming that this is true, what consequences does ...
Mawg says reinstate Monica's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
424 views

What are the consequences of Trump lying on a financial disclosure form?

The media are currently full of articles, like this one saying that D.J. Trump could be in trouble for not disclosing payments to Stormy Daniels. Without getting into details of who did or did not do ...
Mawg says reinstate Monica's user avatar
31 votes
6 answers
12k views

Is Fox News correct that Mueller shouldn't be going after a campaign finance violation?

I'm anti-Trump, just to get that out of the way, but I'm also curious about the legal aspects. I hope this falls enough under political and not legal but if you think it's better for the legal board,...
userLTK's user avatar
  • 3,646
5 votes
2 answers
1k views

Can non-US citizens join super-PACs or pay for attack ads in the US?

Is there any law which prohibits foreigners (non-US citizens) from spending billions of dollars to sway U.S. elections by deliberately placing attack ads against certain political parties ? Can ...
user avatar