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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How can the influence of wealthy individuals on democratic processes be reduced?
This question is inspired by the discussion about lobbyism and free speech.
There are two fundamental ideas in modern democracies that seem to contradict each other, while both being so fundamental ...
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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.
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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 ...
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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 ...
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How do very small countries prevent foreign interests from buying out their political elite?
Let's take Iceland as an example. They have only 338,000 people and their GDP was a mere $20 Billion USD in 2016. There are therefore several billionaires who are richer than the entire economic ...
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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,...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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How can I figure out how much money a political lobbying group has given to my congressman?
I have seen some messages lately from my district representative that are essentially talking points of a political lobbying group. I would like to find out if and how much money he has received from ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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What's the point of campaign financing limits if external organizations may promote the candidate without any funding limits?
In the US, citizens are limited to a contribution of $2700 per each candidate during an election cycle. However external organizations such as SuperPACs have no practical limits in how much they can ...
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Have there been any studies that show that advertising for an election has an effect on who wins?
Have there been any scientific studies that show whether or not spending money on advertising and campaigning has an effect on the outcome of an election? I can think of several elections where the ...
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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 ...
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Would a Libertarian argue for full disclosure in political donations for transparency's sake or full privacy for the donor?
I've read this 'primer' on at least one Libertarian's view on campaign finance.
One line under the heading "are there any campaign contributions or expenditures that should be illegal?" suggests ...
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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 ...
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What is the justification for allowing elected officials to accept money from corporations?
After reading this news article and this one I am perplexed. Admittedly, I'm no expert in politics.
But in a free nation, where senators and representatives are elected to represent their ...
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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 ...
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Why would being "almost the end of the second quarter for fundraising" be a reason for US presidential candidates not being "out there quite as much"?
In CNN's June 14, 2023 'He’s scared s***less’: Hear John Kelly’s blunt take on Trump indictment at about 08:23, CNN's Chief National Affairs Correspondent Jeff Zeleny says:
So one of the reasons the ...
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Is Bernie Sanders allowed to finance a trip to Vatican from campaign funds?
I read this in an article from Market Watch: "Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders will take time off the campaign trail ahead of the critical New York primary for a trip to the Vatican ...
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What arguments can be given in favour of financial barriers for participation in elections or electoral debates?
From this comment comes the quote:
on a practical level, if you suck as a politician THAT much that you can't raise a paltry $50k in a country with 300Mil population, you clearly don't have enough ...
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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♦
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Anonymous donation regulations from the Federal Election Commission
I want to contribute to a federal candidate.
I don't want to disclose any of my contact information to them in doing so.
I've confirmed that my bank's electronic bill-pay sends a check with only my ...
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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 ...
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Buckley v. Valeo / Citizens United
What is the difference in 1) background and 2) implications of the supreme Court cases Buckley v. Valeo and Citizens United v. FEC? The sources I've read make them sound pretty similar, but obviously ...
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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 ...
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What are some of the strongest reasons for allowing private election campaign funding?
There seems to be a resounding consensus on the internet that private campaign funding is a bad idea because it usually leads to corruption and unfairness. Are there any good reasons to think ...
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U.S. Presidential Campaign Donations: Must Submit Employer and Occupation
If you ever consider contributing to a U.S. presidential candidate's campaign on their website, you'll have to give them your name, address, phone number, and e-mail.
I don't entirely understand ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Why is Trump's FEC filing case different from Hillary Clinton's?
As I understand it, the charges against Trump are brought by the State of New York regarding a falsification of filing records by a campaign which was determined to have been made to influence (...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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In which countries election spending or contributions are strictly regulated?
In some democracies, amount a party or candidate can spend towards election campaign is not regulated or poorly regulated. In which countries election spending or contributions are strictly regulated ...
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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 ...
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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’...
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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....
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Why are big tech companies Bernie Sanders' top donors?
Among Bernie Sanders' top donor there are a lot of big tech companies (most of them based on Silicon Valley, California), namely: Alphabet (Google), Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, IBM, Facebook. This ...
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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?
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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 ...
user17709
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Is it typical for someone to be arrested over $20k violation of campaign finance laws?
Is it typical for someone to be arrested over $20k violation of campaign finance laws?
A US citizen was recently arrested, the charges being over illegally donating $20,000 to a Senate campaign (note ...
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Why are Lee Mercer and John Anthony Castro the highest-fundraising candidates for the 2024 U.S. Presidential election?
According to the U.S. Federal Election Commission's website, as of July 10, 2023 the two candidates for U.S. President who have raised the most money are Lee Mercer (D), at $192 million, and John ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Limit to utility of campaign funds
I'm looking for research on the utility of campaign money, specifically in USA elections. Is there a point at which more money doesn't significantly increase a candidates chance of winning? How would ...
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