ST. LOUIS — Question:
“What happens to leftover campaign funds?” from Jill Suhre, a 5 On Your Sider Viewer
Sources:
- Illinois campaign disclosure law
- Missouri ethics law
- Federal election law
Answer:
On a state and federal level across Missouri and Illinois, any campaign committee that closes is required to distribute leftover money to charity, refund it to donors, or give it to another political committee.
But not all losing campaigns have to close.
Candidates in Illinois and in federal races can keep their committees open with no plans to run for office again. They can keep spending the money on campaign-related expenses, or the cost of being in office.
In Missouri, candidates have to tell the state a specific race they're planning to run for, to keep the committee open.
All these laws have one thing in common. None of leftover campaign cash can go towards a candidate's personal expenses.
And all expenses must be reported to the state or the Federal Election Commission.
However, some candidates have found a loophole in the law. Some candidates set a hypothetical date to run and then continue to use the money, even though they aren't running for office.
Check out this 2018 investigation that found 100 campaigns exploiting the system.
