What Happens to Biden’s Campaign Money if He Drops Out?
It depends on who the new Democratic nominee is, says Saurav Ghosh, the director of federal campaign finance reform at the Campaign Legal Center.
The simplest option from a campaign finance standpoint would be to nominate Vice President Kamala Harris, because “if Harris remains on the ticket, as either the presidential or vice-presidential candidate, the new ticket would maintain access to all the funds in the campaign committee,” says Ghosh.
This is “[b]ecause Biden and Vice President Harris share a campaign committee,” Ghosh says, as both names appear on Biden’s statement of candidacy and statement of organization to the Federal Election Commission.
However, if a new Democratic ticket did not include Biden or Harris, then things would become “more complicated,” Ghosh said.
Since $2,000 is the limit to transfer money between federal campaign committees per election cycle, Ghosh said, the Biden campaign couldn’t legally contribute all of its campaign money to a new candidate.
Instead, “Biden’s campaign would have to offer to refund the money to donors, who could then contribute to the new candidate’s campaign,” or “transfer an unlimited amount to the DNC, which could then spend the money supporting the new presidential nominee, and up to $32.3 million of that spending could be coordinated with the new nominee,” said Ghosh.
From https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2024-07-19/what-happens-to-bidens-campaign-money-if-he-drops-out
What Happens to Biden’s Campaign Money if He Drops Out?
It depends on who the new Democratic nominee is, says Saurav Ghosh, the director of federal campaign finance reform at the Campaign Legal Center.
The simplest option from a campaign finance standpoint would be to nominate Vice President Kamala Harris, because “if Harris remains on the ticket, as either the presidential or vice-presidential candidate, the new ticket would maintain access to all the funds in the campaign committee,” says Ghosh.
This is “[b]ecause Biden and Vice President Harris share a campaign committee,” Ghosh says, as both names appear on Biden’s statement of candidacy and statement of organization to the Federal Election Commission.
However, if a new Democratic ticket did not include Biden or Harris, then things would become “more complicated,” Ghosh said.
Since $2,000 is the limit to transfer money between federal campaign committees per election cycle, Ghosh said, the Biden campaign couldn’t legally contribute all of its campaign money to a new candidate.
Instead, “Biden’s campaign would have to offer to refund the money to donors, who could then contribute to the new candidate’s campaign,” or “transfer an unlimited amount to the DNC, which could then spend the money supporting the new presidential nominee, and up to $32.3 million of that spending could be coordinated with the new nominee,” said Ghosh.