White Spending Municipal Campaign Funds On Senate Exploration
Vince Leibowitz | Jan 19, 2009 | Comments 12 |
Houston Mayor Bill White has spent more than $7,000 of his municipal campaign funds in furtherance of his exploration of a possible run for U.S. Senate.
According to the most recent campaign finance report for Friends of Bill White, the political action committee White has used for his Mayoral campaigns, White paid online strategy and development firm Blue State Digital $7,500 on December 3 of last year. He announced his intention to seek the Senate seat on December 16.
While hiring an online heavyweight like Blue State Digital evidently signals that White intends to have a significant online presence, the fact that White made the expenditure from his mayoral campaign account brings up an interesting question.
While a candidate who is “exploring” a run for U.S. Senate is not required to file documents with the Federal Election Commission, he is required to adhere to certain other regulations when it comes campaign expenditures.
Specifically, FEC regulations require that any candidate exploring a race use only “funds permissible” under Federal law. In other words, the money used had to have been raised under federal campaign finance limits of $2,300 per person or $5,000 from multi-candidate PACs with a ban on corporate and union treasury funds.
The Campaign Legal Center summarizes it:
“Before deciding to campaign for federal office, an individual may first want to ‘test the waters’—that is, explore the feasibility of becoming a candidate. For example, the individual may want to travel around the state or district to see if there is sufficient support for his candidacy. An individual who merely tests the waters (but does not campaign for office) does not have to register or report as a candidate even if the individual raises or spends more than $5,000—the dollar threshold that would normally trigger candidate registration. Nevertheless, the individual must comply with the contribution limits and prohibitions. Once an individual begins to campaign or decides to become a candidate, funds that were raised or spent to test the waters apply to the $5,000 threshold for qualifying as a candidate. Once the threshold is exceeded, the individual must register with the FEC . . . and begin to file reports ….”[Emphasis added]
The City of Houston’s contribution limits for candidates, however, are not in harmony with FEC regulations. According to Houston city ordinances:
Sec. 18-38. Limitation on total contribution by individual and political action committee.
(a) No person shall make contributions to a candidate which in the aggregate exceeds $5,000.00 per election. No political action committee shall make contributions to a candidate which in the aggregate exceeds $10,000.00 per election.
Thus, it doesn’t appear that White’s city campaign account would constitute a “permissible” funding source for his U.S. Senate campaign or exploration.
In addition to the funds expended to Blue State Digital, White evidently is paying at least one former staff member of 2008 U.S. Senate Candidate Rick Noriega, who is working in the office of White’s chief fundraiser, according to several Houston political insiders.
Finally, on December 31, 2008, after announcing his exploration, White paid his fund-raiser Butrum & Associates a payment of $12,500. White had previously been paying the firm about $7,500 at a time.
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Filed Under: 2010 Texas Elections
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[...] from Capitol Annex takes a look at Houston Mayor Bill White’s campaign finance reports and notes that White is spending money from his municipal campaign account on his race for U.S. Senate. [?] Share [...]
[...] Vince from Capitol Annex takes a look at Houston Mayor Bill White’s campaign finance reports and notes that White is spending money from his municipal campaign account on his race for U.S. Senate. [...]
[...] Vince from Capitol Annex takes a look at Houston Mayor Bill White’s campaign finance reports and notes that White is spending money from his municipal campaign account on his race for U.S. Senate. [...]