This year the Federal Election Commission (FEQ) clarified a rule that allowes candidates running for federal offices to use campaign funds to pay themselves a salary. Although not well known, the FEC has long allowed candidates to pay themselves for running for office. In 2020, Dana Balter, a New York Democrat, paid herself a salary from campaign funds of about $35,000 to run against Republican John Katko. She lost to Katko.
Texas law prohibits the use of campaign funds for personal use. The prohibition on the use of personal funds does not allow for using campaign funds for a salary to run for office. Only candidates seeking a federal office can use the FEC rules to pay themselves a salary.
As demonstrated by last year’s city council races, running for office is expensive, and a full-time commitment. Because of the full-time commitment, many candidates found themselves trying to balance work and campaigning.
The high cost of running for office often raises the age-old argument that only the wealthy can run for office.
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On January 2, the FEC updated its rules in the Federal Registry. The new rules simplified how a federal candidate can draw a salary while running for congress, or the White House, if they wish.
Prior to the latest updates to the FEC’s rules, candidates wanting to pay themselves a salary to run for federal office were met with strict rules limit how campaign funds could be used for personal use. The rules limited the salary amount to the candidate’s earnings the year before they announced to run for office, leaving those without jobs, like students out of running for office.
Under the news rules, the candidate can draw a salary to campaign up to 50% of the annual salary of a US House Representative. The annual salary for a Member of the US House of Representatives is $174,000. This means that a candidate running for congress can draw a salary up to $87,000 from their campaign funds. The salary can be lower if the candidate’s last five years of salaries averaged less than $87,000, at which point the average becomes the salary.
None of the three candidates: Irene Armendariz-Jackson, Deliris Montanez Berrios, or Veronica Escobar took a salary from their campaigns funds according to a review of their FEC campaign finance reports for 2024.
The new rule takes effect on March 1.