Paying for Election Campaigns

Do you want to be president someday? To get enough votes to win an election, candidates for national, state, and local public offices must campaign to convince voters they are right for the job. This is expensive. Although some candidates are wealthy themselves, the costs are so high that no one has enough money to pay for all of the expenses of running a campaign.

What Are Some of the Costs?

Credit: The Federal Election Commission, www.fec.gov

Most candidates attract people who help them campaign by making calls to voters, getting signatures on petitions, knocking on doors to hand out pamphlets, or driving people to the polls. While many are volunteers, paid staff are also needed for all of this work. And these are not the only campaign tasks that must be paid for.  Printing pamphlets, yard signs, and buttons to advertise the candidate; renting space in each city for campaign headquarters; and traveling costs for the candidate and his or her campaign team are a few of the additional expenses during an election. Television, radio, billboard, and magazine ads are costly. In 2010, a 30-second television commercial in prime time (between the hours of 8 pm and 10 pm) cost between $75,000 and $200,000, depending on the network and time slot. Campaigns for major offices, such as president or members of Congress, rely on paid professional consultants to manage the campaign, write speeches, recruit and train volunteers, and give the candidates advice on campaign strategy.

Who Makes Campaign Contributions?

Campaign expenses are paid for by donations from individuals, businesses, and organizations that support a particular candidate. The Sierra Club, for example, is likely to donate funds to candidates they think will work to protect the environment. Labor unions favor candidates who support worker safety and wage protection issues. Organizations called Political Action Committees, or PACs, are formed by two or more people to specifically raise money to influence election results.

Right to Know Political Campaign Finances

Because money is vital to election campaigns, it’s important to know who gives money to which candidates and what laws govern the process. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent government agency that administers and enforces campaign finance laws enacted by Congress.

Voters have a legal right to know where candidates get their campaign money—and how they spend it. For national offices, this information is available here on the FEC’s’s Web site. You can find lists for the amounts raised to date by political party and by donation source.