When a politician leaves office, what does he or she do with remaining funds that were contributed to their campaigns?
A former New Mexico senator has a healthy balance leftover from funds raised in 2013. Sen. Phil Griego's, D-San Jose, most recent campaign filing indicated that he had $48,000 in his account. Griego is one of several politicians that a New Mexico In Depth investigation concluded had significant funds leftover in their accounts. The report also hinted that, for some individuals, what to with excess campaign funds may be difficult to determine.
"If they told me I can keep it, I'd have to pay taxes on it," Griego told the publication. "I haven't been instructed. I've got a call in to the Secretary of State's office. They haven't gotten back to me."
Griego isn't the only former lawmaker with excess campaign funds
Sen. Griego is not alone in the need for advice on how to spend excess campaign funds. Rep. Luciano "Lucky" Varela, D-Santa Fe, – who announced earlier this year that he would retire – has over $64,000 in his account. Former Rep. Anna Crook, R-Clovis, had around $14,000 in her account after New Mexico In Depth contacted her – prior to that, she had more than $17,000. Former Rep. Edward Sandoval's, D-Albuquerque, account has close to $25,000. Numerous other former lawmakers contacted by the publication also still have funds leftover in their accounts following their resignation from political office.
"Numerous former lawmakers still have campaign funds leftover."
OpenSecrets reported on this issue following the retirement of former Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind. His campaign committee was holding onto close to $13 million.
"The bottom line is no personal use, obviously," said Judith Ingram, a Federal Election Commission spokeswoman, according to the watchdog publication. "In addition, he can donate it to charity, or contribute it to the national party committee. He can contribute up to $2,000 to another candidate's committee, put it into a PAC, or convert his campaign committee into a PAC. He could do nothing with it … if he decided to run again he could dip back into it."
Almost anything besides paying oneself is allowed
When politicians retire or lose an election, the law does not mandate that they shut down their campaign committees. This, however, can lead to confusion and politicians like Griego being unsure about how they should handle the cash they have leftover. Some of their options include paying off their campaign debts, saving the funds for another run for office, donating it to charity or funding another politician's run. With the exception of personal use – which is absolutely not allowed – there actually are not many limitations on what politicians can use those funds for.
Varela, who still has some time left before he vacates his seat, noted that he will be careful about how he spends his leftover funds, according to New Mexico In Depth.
"I want to make sure that I stay within the campaign reporting requirements," he explained.
Varela has paid his son, who is now running for his seat, around $12,000 since the start of 2013 for constituent work. He also paid himself over $5,000 in three installments for legislative session and campaign expenses. The publication made no comment on whether or not that is a violation of campaign finance laws by the still-serving lawmaker.
Crook, meanwhile, said that she still spends some of her leftover campaign funds on meetings with constituents and charitable donations, but was surprised to learn that she should still be filing campaign finance reports.
"Oh dear, well I guess that's probably been an oversight," she told New Mexico In Depth. "I will call Ken [Ortiz] and I will certainly get up-to-date on those."
Certainly there is confusion among some lawmakers about what they can and cannot do with their leftover campaign committee funds once they have retired or lost a race. When asked how much he would be allowed to donate to other campaigns following his retirement, Bayh told Wolf Blitzer that it was a "question for the lawyers," according to OpenSecrets. The one thing that seems clear is that money shouldn't be taken from these accounts and given directly to the outgoing politician.
Former Sen. Bayh has the right idea in consulting his attorneys. In all areas of campaign finance, if you do not know the rules with absolute certainty, consult a campaign finance professional.