Candidates often make the decision to hold fund-raisers with other candidates. A joint candidate fund-raiser is an acceptable practice as long as certain guidelines are followed. The following information is for candidates for state or local office. If a state or local candidate wishes to hold a joint fund-raiser with a federal candidate, the FEC should be contacted for instructions at 1-800-424-9530 for further instructions.
A joint candidate fund-raiser must be treated as a separate political committee with a separate bank account. Within 10 days of a decision to hold a fund-raiser or of receipt of the first contribution, a Statement of Organization-Joint Candidate Committee (CRO-2100B) must be completed and filed. The Statement of Organization-Joint Candidate Committee (CRO-2100B) must contain:
· The name and office of each candidate involved;
· The percentage of proceeds that each candidate will receive; and
· The name and address of the treasurer of the joint fund-raising committee.
If all candidates involved file their individual campaign finance disclosure reports with a county board of elections office, these forms will also be filed with that county board of elections office. If one or more candidates file campaign disclosure reports with the State Board of Elections, these forms will be filed with the State Board of Elections.
Candidates participating in a joint fund-raiser should note that each continues to be limited to $5,200 per contributor per election. For example, if a contributor had previously given the candidate’s committee a contribution of $2,000 and then wishes to contribute to the fund-raiser, the amount of the contribution may not exceed $3,200 for the candidate who has already received $2,000 from that contributor.
As for the individual candidate committees participating in the Joint Candidate Fund-raiser must be certain that contribution limitations have not been exceeded between the individual candidate committee and their percentage of the proceeds from the joint candidate committee. The treasurer of the joint candidate committee must provide the treasurer of each participating candidate with a list of contributors and the percentage of each contributor’s contribution to that candidate. It will then be the responsibility of the individual candidate treasurer to ensure compliance with contribution limitations.