Can any other democrat get money from the Biden campaign?
Democratic Leaders Rally Behind Kamala Harris: Predictions for the Chicago Delegates Meeting on Monday, April 27th, 2009
Less than a day after President Biden stepped aside from the race and put his support behindVice President Kamala Harris, Democrats rallied around her candidacy. She appears to be heading towards the nomination when delegates meet in Chicago next month.
Gov. Andy Beshear, D-Ky., seen as a potential contender, told MSNBC Monday morning that he was endorsing her candidacy. “The vice president is smart and strong which will make her a good president,” he said.
Democratic Govs. There had been speculation about Harris being challenged at the DNC in four weeks, but they were all quick to endorse her.
While some Democrats are suggesting for an open process in Chicago to get rid of Donald Trump, there is little appetite for a contentious battle to take on the former President.
Many people would like a mini-primary. That’s the process to find out if you have the strongest candidate, whether it be Kamala or someone else, to get behind,” longtime Democrat-turned-independent Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia told CBS on Monday.
“I mean, [the Democratic Party has] gone to the left. Let’s see if she comes back. A person can change direction or position at any time. He wants to see that direction change.
Biden’s campaign war chest and the political landscape: The case for reversible filings with the FEC and other body embeddings
Harris is also likely to benefit from the $240 million the Biden campaign reported it had on hand in the most recent disclosure, but there is some dispute over whether campaign finance laws allow for Biden to just hand it all over to Harris’s campaign.
These are not normal times. Harris sent a text message to supporters on Monday asking for$20 donations in order to fund his campaign.
He intimated in a social media post that Harris might not actually be eligible to access the funds and kicked off a debate on the subject. He pointed to the regulation.
11 C.F.R. § 110.1(b)(3): “If the candidate is not a candidate in the general election, all contributions made for the general election shall be either returned or refunded to the contributors or redesignated …, or reattributed …, as appropriate.”
But he may have to consider his interpretation if the Trump campaign files a complaint with the FEC, or a request for an advisory opinion, on Biden’s efforts to hand over his campaign war chest to Harris.
Given the abbreviated timeline for those complaints to be heard — there are roughly 100 days until the presidential election — Democrats’ efforts to do could also be challenged in court.
How exactly voters respond to the Democratic shakeup remains to be seen. A recent NPR/PBS News/Marist poll, conducted before Biden withdrew from the race but after his poor debate performance, showed both Biden and Harris in a statistical tie with Trump.
“Kamala Harris won’t be able to outrun the Harris-Biden record or her left-wing record from California,” said a Trump spokesman on X.
Specifically, Republicans are already highlighting Harris’s more liberal immigration positions and will argue that she “covered up” for Biden’s mental acuity. “You lied about it every day,” senior Trump campaign official Chris LaCivita said on X.
Harris has traveled often to North Carolina, where Governor Roy Cooper is running for reelection.
Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz. has won statewide races twice and could put back on the map a state that Democrats believe had largely slipped away from Biden by the time he exited the race.
Can Harris Access Campaign Funds? (Can Harris, or Any Other Democrat) Have the Right to Know? [Can Harris — or any other Democrat — Access Campaign Money?]
Democrats have little time to vet a potential running mate and voters won’t have to wait long to find out: the running mate is historically announced days before the convention.
The short answer seems to be that Vice President Harris — who is already poised to be the new Democratic nominee — has a strong claim to the funds, because she was and is on the filing statements as a candidate with Biden. Other potential replacements would not, according to many campaign finance experts.
The FEC has long been hampered by partisanship and a lack of resources in being able to address these kinds of issues in timely ways. The monetary penalties for campaign violations are relatively small, and they typically cost millions of dollars spent on campaigns.
Cooksey said on Morning Edition that the processes can take a long time and that they don’t have a lot of time until the election.
Clever lawyers can always come up with a solution to a problem. They are in the business of doing that. I wouldn’t be surprised to see somebody try to challenge it.
Weintraub said that the committee is the same. “She’s always been part of that committee; she never had a separate contribution limit apart from this committee that her name’s already on. It’s not just me. Lawyers all over town seem to be saying the same thing. Someone could undoubtedly come up with a technical argument, and I would keep an open mind, but it doesn’t seem all that complicated to me.”
She points to the fact that Harris’ name was always on the statement of organization for the Biden presidential campaign committee as one of the candidates.
Source: Can Harris — or any other Democrat — access Biden campaign money?
What will FEC look like in the 2020 biden campaign? A warning on the Biden-Harris slam dunk
He added, “I think it’s going to have to go through a process through the FEC. I think there’s going to be challenges to that at the agency and also in the courts.
There are some right-leaning campaign finance lawyers who think that it is not a slam dunk for Harris, despite the Biden campaign already changing its name to Harris.
