On July 16, the Federal Election Commission approved $411,187.85 in primary season matching funds for Ralph Nader. Primary season matching funds are only for candidates who are seeking the nomination of a political party. Nader is seeking the nomination of many political parties that are qualified in just a single state. Also, one can say he is seeking the nomination of the Independent Party, which he created this year and which is ballot-qualified in New Mexico and Hawaii. Here is a link to the FEC press release. Thanks to Bob Marston for this news.
How do FEC funds work does he only get payment of $411,187 or can he qualify for more later?
Go Nader-Gonzalez!
Laine wrote: “How do FEC funds work does he only get payment of $411,187 or can he qualify for more later?”
This is only for Primary Season. The FEC awards matching funds for the General Election separately.
That is why it is best if you are considering contributing to a campaign to break it into to at least 2 payments. Also the FEC resets the maximum amount an individual can contribute to a particular campaign to ZERO after the Primary Season ends.
GO NADER!
So, did Barr qualify, or did he jump into the race too late to qualify for primary matching funds?
I don’t think Barr would accept matching funds. He’s a Libertarian (sort of).
I’m sure he’d turn them down, but did he QUALIFY for them?
(sorry about the Caps. I don’t know how to use italics on here)
I don’t know if Barr qualified or not, because he didn’t declare himself as a candidate until just a few weeks before the Libertarian convention, and I tend to doubt that he had raised at least $5,000 from each of 20 states in that narrow window of time. One reason the Green Party has such a late convention this year is because the Greens thought that whoever was seeking their nomination would then have more time to qualify for primary season matching funds. But no one did. Although Cynthia McKinney still has time, since she is also seeking the California Peace & Freedom nomination, but even that is just 18 days away.
So, are far as Nader is concerned, as an independent candidate seeking multiple party lines with different nomination dates, how do you determine the end of the primary season?
So, would a candidate seeking the nomination of the IPNY have until late September to qualify?
When does the primary season end for Nader? If it is still going, I wonder why the amount isn’t higher. I think he has raised around 1.2 million and I heard him say he expected to get around 900 thousand in matching funds. Maybe he meant that he would get 900K total for the whole election? I see from the article that the funds they are announcing were awarded to match funds raised from January through June. (That’s ambiguous; does that mean through the beginning or end of June?) Maybe he has lots of donors who have contributed over $250. I’d like to see detailed breakdown of what he has raised in each state and what funds were matched.
I think Barr should take matching funds. Even if he is against them in principle, he could make the argument that he is using the system to dismantle itself. Then again, I’m not a libertarian, so I don’t have a good feel for how LP faithful might react to that argument. If the primary season for Barr only goes up to the time he got the nomination, he may not have qualified for the funds; he announced very late and I think he was under $100K prior to the convention.
I have a question about what happens to the matching funds for candidates who have dropped out/suspended their campaigns. Of course they can use the funds to “retire” any campaign debt. But can they also pass the funds on to whomever they endorse? If so, I have new reason to dream that Kucinich will endorse Nader.
Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick!
“So, would a candidate seeking the nomination of the IPNY have until late September to qualify?”
I’m pretty sure yes, but Richard Winger will know for sure.
I believe that is correct. But a candidate has one bite at the apple. The window to file for primary season matching money begins the first business day after the polls close on the final primary and extends through the last nomination date on the calemdar, in this case 20 Sept.
I figured that Ralph filed with all of the major candidates in June for the publicity value of having his name placed on the same list as the other major candidates. Also receiving the money now tells the Dems he has the cash to fight them in court if the Dems decide to mount legal challenges to his petition. A week ago Nader stated he had raised nearly 1 million dollars. Add in the matching money and subtract his expenses thus far and I figure Nader has 1.2 million in the Kitty.
For some reason, the primary season matching funds for everybody ends when the Republicans choose someone on September 3 or September 4. There is some rule that says even if some minor party is making a later choice, the primary season ends when all the parties that are eligible for general election funding have nominated (this year, that means only Dem & Rep). So the late Independence Party of New York convention is no help for extending the season for Nader.
So Nader can still recieve additional primary season FEC matching funds through the Republican Convention?
Yes.
Richard, only the Democrats and Repulicans will be eligible for general election matching funds? Does that mean that after the primary season ends on September 4 funds donated to Nader are no longer eligible to be matched? What does it take to be eligible for general election matching funds–is there still a chance for candidates to qualify?
There are no General Election Matching Funds. A party must get at least 5% of the vote in the previous Presidential General Election in order to get any FEC funding in this General Election. If a party received above a certain percentage (I think it is 15%) in the previous Presidential Election then it gets a fixed amount of FEC funds which goes to their Presidential Nomineee. If the party received between 5% and 15%(?) then the amount is prorated. If the Candidate accepts the FEC funding, then they are limited in the amount of General Election funds they can raise on their own.
Richard, Bob, and Tom, thanks for all the helpful information. As a Nader supporter, it is heartening for me to hear that he is getting these funds. And as a one who plans to donate (again) to his campaign, it is useful for me to know that donations made before September 3 will be eligible for matching while donations thereafter will not be matched. This is information I plan to disseminate.
I’d be interested to hear a debate among Libertarians (and Barr supporters more generally) regarding whether he will and whether he *should* take matching funds for donations he gets between now and September. I, for one, think he should take them and hope that he will.