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Senate committee backs rule to return leftover campaign funds to donors when candidates withdraw
Summary
The Senate State Agencies & Governmental Affairs Committee approved a bill to clarify how campaign funds must be handled when a candidate withdraws, specifying pro rata returns to contributors and adding redistricting language to avoid renumbering consequences.
The Senate State Agencies & Governmental Affairs Committee approved legislation clarifying how leftover campaign funds must be handled when a candidate withdraws from a race.
Senator Jonathan Dismaine, the bill sponsor, said the measure mainly restates existing statutory scenarios and adds narrow clarifications. "The only thing that this bill does is set out the scenario of what you do with those funds and how they should be returned to the donors," he told the committee, noting the bill also specifies that redistricting or renumbering should not prevent a candidate from running for a given office.
Supporters described the bill as a technical clarification to prevent lawyers or courts from reaching different outcomes in similar cases. Opponents and some supporters asked whether the change should take effect immediately because it could affect candidates who switch races midcycle. Senator Ballinger said he agreed with the policy in principle but was not confident it "wouldn't apply today" to people who had already planned under the current system, and urged caution about moving forward without more time to study effects.
Senator Jane English raised a separate practical concern, saying that donors often give to a person rather than a specific office and that long fundraising cycles can leave money in accounts for years. "I personally do not like this. I would prefer that we had something in law that says you can continue to use those funds so that we don't have this question," she said.
Sponsor Dismaine and other backers pressed for a clear, administrable rule. Dismaine said the statute lists returning funds to contributors as an option and that a pro rata redistribution to contributors is a straightforward method. He offered to pull the bill for additional drafting if members preferred more time.
The committee recorded a motion "do pass" (mover: Senator Bledsoe; second: Senator Tucker) and approved the bill by voice vote. The committee did not record a roll-call tally.
What happens next: The bill now moves to the next step of the legislative process for further consideration by the full Senate.
