What happens to leftover campaign donations after the election?

If the candidates had any leftover, then where does all of that donated money go after the Presidential Election?What happens to leftover campaign donations after the election?
It depends entirely on the candidate. Sometimes they keep the money for their next campaign. Sometimes they give it to other candidates. It doesn't generally go to the party general fund.


posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 9:43 AM on January 7











A lot of times candidates go into debt. For instance, in 2004 Howard Dean ended his campaign $400,000 in debt despite raising more money than anyone else ever had.





In a lot of cases like this, this debt is paid off by the nominee. Hillary Clinton did this for Tom Vilsack when he dropped out earlier this year.





John Kerry on the other hand, got into trouble for having millions of dollars left over in his bank account after 2004. It will be interesting to see what Ron Paul does with all the money he has raised online if he is unable to win the republican primary contest.





I suspect if that is the case, his supporters will call for an independent run at the White House.


posted by cjoh at 10:27 AM on January 7





What happens to leftover campaign donations after the election?
by federal law, campaign contributions can ONLY be used for that purpose


the only other option is to give it back


stop laughing


they use it on their NEXT campaign
Palin plans to buy more cloths and take more trips with her entire family, and hopefully McCain uses some of that money to whiten his teeth.
Goes into their reelection campaign.
They keep them till the next time the run. When they retire they get to keep whats left.
They buy pizza for all the campaign workers.
They keep it for the next election...
its used to pay for booze and hookers