Sen. David Sanders filed
yesterday to a shell bill on campaign finance which would allow candidates to begin fundraising four years prior to an election (currently, state law permits fundraising to begin two years before an election). That seems a bit much for a state election. What’s up? This looks like an intra-legislature tiff between senators and representatives. Reps seeking to challenge a senator can raise a bunch of money in a blowout or unopposed race and then use that as carryover funds for a senate race two years later. Thus, in practice, a representative hoping to challenge a sitting senator can in practice raise money for four years while a senator can only raise money for two. I will leave it to readers to divine what additional shenanigans might come via doubling the allowable fundraising window. It’s unclear whether Sanders will actually run the bill.
Home Arkansas Blog Perpetual fundraising: bill would increase legal time to fundraise before elections