And now, on to the Senate
In the previous story about new campaign finance contribution limits, I discussed candidates for the Minnesota House.
Just as in the case of the House, Under prior law, a candidate for the Senate could receive individual contributions of a maximum of $100 in a non-election year and $500 in an election year. Now, it’s $1,000 for the cycle and it doesn’t matter when the contribution is made during the cycle.
As also mentioned, in the current 2013 – 14 cycle, a House candidate cannot receive more than $12,000 in the aggregate from lobbyists, political committees or funds (or other associations not registered with the Board; some don’t have to), or individuals who contribute $500 or more.
Senators are similarly limited, but their maximum during the current 2013 – 14 cycle is $6,000.
What? How can that be? It’s not fair, you say! You might especially say that if you are a Minnesota state senator. But there is a difference between candidates for the two offices. House candidates have an election this year, and the Senate candidates don’t have one until 2016. In the 2015 – 16 cycle, the limit for, um, “special source” contributors in senate races will be $18,000. So the senators catch up.
The limits for special source contributions apply to senators, and to house members as discussed earlier, whether or not the candidate has signed a public subsidy agreement.
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