How can we rein in campaign spending?

In fewer than 60 days the filing period opens for candidates to run in the March 3rd primary elections. The window opens December 1st and closes December 19th. Before we become involved in specific races, candidates and issues let’s consider how we can improve North Carolina’s elections.

California House Speaker Jesse Unruh once said that “money is the mother’s milk of politics.” The money in politics gets larger in every election. Our 2020 gubernatorial election was estimated to have cost $53 million. Last year’s governor’s race cost more than $125 million. These numbers are just what the campaigns spent and don’t consider what was raised by outside groups. Already forecasters are predicting the 2026 Cooper-Whatley U.S. Senate race will exceed $500 million, the most expensive in the nation.

Our elections are out of control. Money is distorting and corrupting them, making them less about philosophy and issues and more about who spends the most. We desperately need campaign finance reforms.

Effective January 1 of this year an individual or political committee can contribute up to $6,800 to a North Carolina candidate or political committee in any election. That holds true for the primary, the general election and a runoff, if necessary. We have reasonable limits because we want candidates to be able to wage competitive campaigns, but we don’t want one person to give so much as to effectively “buy” the election. But unfortunately, that is exacting what is happening.

North Carolina’s campaign contribution laws have an exception that render them virtually worthless. The law states, “Any national, state, district or county executive committee of any political party recognized under  “Political party” defined; creation of new party (N.C.G.S. § 163-96) is exempt from contribution limits.”

What this means is that you can contribute any amount of money you want to a political party. Once you give the gift you technically have no control how the party spends it, but there are exceptions to the rule. Often there is a “wink-wink” understanding that the money be expended on behalf of candidate X, essentially allowing a donor to evade state contribution limits. 

Political parties have become little more than money laundering machines. We can fix these end-around maneuvers by limiting the amount a political party can give a candidate to the amount our state contribution allows. This would be a good first step in campaign finance reform. Sadly, however, this small step won’t fix the larger problem – too much money given by too few people to advocate special interests. 

The big money tsunami of money in elections was a result of the 2010 Citizen United Supreme Court decision. That ruling overturned laws attempting to enact campaign finance reforms by placing limitations on both campaign contributions and expenditures. The verdict stated that established corporations and unions (and individuals) have the right to contribute unlimited amounts of money which can be used for unlimited independent political expenditures. These expenditures, the court said, are a form of speech protected by the 1st Amendment of the Constitution. The Justices fully expected Congress to respond to this decision by enacting additional election reforms that incorporated this ruling, however Congress never acted.

Suddenly, floods of money poured into elections through 501(c)4 independent expenditure groups. These entities are not allowed to have direct input to or from a candidate’s campaign, however they can exercise their rights of free speech with few other restrictions. The result is that the politician’s campaign sometimes takes the back seat to these independent expenditure groups that raise as much or even more than the candidate and the campaign. 

That is bad news. Even worse is that states have little control over these groups. After filing with the North Carolina State Board of Elections and the Federal Elections Commission (if necessary) these groups are not required to provide lists identifying the donors or how much they gave. Further, the state cannot control how much they spend or what assertions they make.  

The independent expenditure group has too much sway in our election outcomes.

We truly have the best elected officials money can buy. 

So, before we devote too much time to concerns about absentee ballots, where polls are located or other election minutiae we need to make campaign finance reform our top priority, beginning with how to get more control over independent expenditure groups. We must negate the ability of people we don’t know, people usually from outside our state, with agendas they don’t have to reveal to us from having so much input in our elections. Yes, those groups have 1stAmendment rights, but with their huge sums of money they are drowning out my voice and yours. We have rights, too. 

Let’s find out where the candidates stand on campaign finance reform before deciding who we will support. 

Tom Campbell is a Hall of Fame North Carolina broadcaster and columnist who has covered North Carolina public policy issues since 1965.  Contact him at tomcamp@ncspin.com