William_T._Bianco,_David_T._Canon]_American_Polit

Individual

Candidates

National Party

Committees

State, District, and

Local Parties PACs

Limit on Total

Contributions

Individuals $2,70 0 $33,9 0 0 $10,000

(combined limit)

$5,000 No limit

PACs $5,000 $15,000 $5,000

(combined limit)

$5,000 No limit

National Party Committees $5,000 No limit No limit $5,000 $45,400 to Senate

candidate per campaign

State, District, and Local

Party Committees

$5,000

(combined limit)

No limit No limit $5,000

(combined limit)

No limit

Source: Federal Election Commission, “Contribution Limits for 2017–2018,” http://www.fec.gov (accessed 3/11/18).

Contribution Limits in the 2018 Elections

The BCRA of 2002 put into effect limits on how much individuals, organizations, and corporations

could contribute to candidates’ primary and general-election campaigns. The limits were changed

based on Supreme Court decisions in 2010 and 2014. At present, although there are still limits on

contributions that individuals and PACs can make to each individual candidate, there are no limits on

total overall contributions to multiple candidates by individuals and PACs.

TABLE

9.3

321

While campaign finance law is complex, most Americans believe the effects of

campaign finance are simple: candidates cannot win without spending money, victory

goes to the candidate with the larger budget, and, as a result, candidates listen to large

donors and ignore average citizens. They also believe that elections cost too much.

The reality is much more complex. Candidates need money to run effective campaigns

(and particularly to pay for campaign advertising), but spending does not guarantee

victory. And while candidates court large donors, they are even more obsessed with

winning the support of ordinary citizens, because in the end elections are about votes,

not money.

Types of Contributions and Funding Organizations The limits on campaign

contributions in the BCR A—also known as the McCain-Feingold Act—vary depending

on whether contributions are made by an individual or a group and by the type of

group, as shown in Table 9.3. These limits were modified in April 2014 by a 5–4 ruling in

McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, in which the Supreme Court struck down

limits on overall campaign contributions to candidates and PACs. A second Supreme

Court decision, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, also eliminated

restrictions on campaign advertising by corporations, organizations, and labor unions

within 30 days of a primary or 60 days of a general election.

Current law distinguishes between independent expenditures, in which a

party or group spends money to advocate for a candidate but the candidate or

the campaign does not control, direct, or approve the activity, and coordinated

expenditures, in which the candidate has some control. Independent expenditures

are not limited, but coordinated expenditures are. For example, in Senate races,

there is a cap on coordinated expenditures by political parties, ranging from

several hundred thousand dollars in small states like Delaware to several million

dollars in California.

Electoral campaigns

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