Beto O’Rourke Has Raised An Unprecedented Amount Of Money; Win Or Lose, He Gets To Keep It

After an election, candidates can keep and spend money raised during their campaign as long as it’s not on personal expenses.

By Jill AmentOctober 17, 2018 11:09 am,

The latest reports of Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke’s $38 million fundraising haul is raising the eyebrows of many political observers. O’Rourke’s campaign says it’s an unprecedented amount for a U.S. Senate candidate, especially for a Democrat running in Texas.

With a little less than three weeks until Election Day, what happens to the campaign money if O’Rourke is unable to spend it all? Sean Theriault, a government professor at the University of Texas at Austin, says the war chest functions like a bank account: candidates can keep the money and spend it on anything except personal expenses.

What you’ll hear in this segment:

– Who keeps campaign money after an election

– What the money can be spent on or used for

– Whether Beto O’Rourke will be able to spend the rest of his campaign funds before the upcoming election

 

Written by Brooke Vincent.