Financing the 2020 Election

Molly E. Reynolds; John C. Green

doi:10.5771/9780815739807

Summary

Much has changed in the sixty years since the 1960 election, but every four years, readers have been able to count on a single volume to provide a detailed examination of federal campaign finance. Financing the 2020 Election is the latest in this series, providing a full picture of raising and spending by campaigns, parties, and outside actors—all in an election cycle both disrupted and shaped by a global pandemic and a polarizing president at the top of the ticket.

Edited by Molly E. Reynolds and John C. Green and Molly Reynolds, the book draws on detailed data from the Federal Election Commission and analysis by a range of campaign finance experts. The chapters provide both overall context for the landscape of campaign finance regulation in 2020 and examine a different aspect of the 2020 cycle, including the presidential contest; congressional races; and the role of the political parties. A concluding chapter places the entire campaign in context and offers suggestions for reform.

Together, the analysis in the volume gives readers a single source for a complete picture of how the 2020 elections were financed—and how those dynamics fit into the broader landscape of American politics.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2023
ISBN-Print: 978-0-8157-4025-4
ISBN-Online: 978-0-8157-3980-7
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 232
Product type: Edited Book

1. Dedication No access
2. Contents No access
3. 1. Tables No access
  2. Figures No access
4. About the Contributors No access
5. Preface and Acknowledgments No access
1. Context of the 2020 Election No access
2. 1. Candidate Committees No access
  2. Joint Fund-Raising Committees No access
  3. Party Committees No access
  4. Traditional PACs No access
  5. Hybrid and Super PACs No access
  6. Additional Independent Spenders No access
3. Previewing the Substantive Chapters No access
4. A Sixty-Year Anniversary No access
5. Notes No access
1. Why Campaign Finance Policy Matters No access
2. 1. Entities That Regulate: Congress No access
  2. Entities That Regulate: Federal Agencies No access
3. The Constitution and Major Statutes Affecting Campaign Finance No access
4. 1. The Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) and Buckley v. Valeo No access
  2. The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) and McConnell v. FEC No access
  3. Citizens United and Implications for the Regulatory Environment No access
5. 1. Ongoing Implications from Changes in Party Financing and Presidential Public Funds No access
  2. Unique Factors Shaping the 2020 Regulatory Environment: COVID and Foreign Interference No access
  3. Ongoing Debate over Transparency in Disclosures and Disclaimers No access
6. Discussion No access
7. Notes No access
1. 1. Rules No access
  2. Rivals No access
  3. Resources No access
2. 1. Democratic Candidates No access
  2. Republican Candidate No access
3. 1. Democratic Candidates No access
  2. Republican Candidate No access
4. Noncandidate and Party Committee Spending in 2020 No access
5. Candidates’ Organizational Networks in 2020 No access
6. 1. The Democratic Nomination Campaign No access
  2. The Postprimary Campaign No access
  3. The Bridge Period No access
  4. Financing the National Conventions No access
  5. The General Election Campaign No access
7. 1. Postelection Fund-Raising No access
8. Notes No access
1. The Context of the 2020 Congressional Elections No access
2. The Structure of Congressional Campaign Finance No access
3. Small Donations in 2020 No access
4. Who Gives to Whom? No access
5. Spending by Incumbents Versus Challengers No access
6. A Note on 2021 and Beyond No access
7. Notes No access
1. 1. Trump and the Republican National Committee (RNC) No access
  2. Trump Impeachment 2019–2020 No access
  3. Biden and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) No access
  4. U.S. Senate Runoff Elections in Georgia No access
2. 1. Party Fund-Raising and Joint Fund-Raising Committees (JFCs) No access
  2. Party Receipts from Transfers No access
  3. Special Party Accounts No access
  4. Party Receipts from Individual Contributors No access
  5. Party Receipts from Traditional PACs No access
  6. Party Receipts from Party Candidates and Officeholders No access
3. 1. 1. Party Contributions to Candidates and Coordinated Expenditures No access
  2. Party Independent Expenditures No access
  3. Party-Aligned Super PACs No access
4. How Was 2020 Historic for Parties? No access
5. Notes No access
1. 1. Traditional PAC Contributions No access
  2. Internal Communications No access
2. 1. Traditional PAC Independent Expenditures No access
3. 1. Super PAC Funding No access
  2. Super PAC Spending No access
  3. Georgia Senate Runoff Races No access
4. Tax-Exempt Groups and Electioneering Communication Costs No access
5. Campaign Advertising in 2020 No access
6. Conclusions No access
7. Notes No access
1. 1. Unusually Well-Known Candidates No access
  2. New Emphasis on Small Contributions No access
  3. Uneven Deployment of Super PACs No access
  4. The Role of Scam PACs No access
  5. News Roles for Television and Social Media Advertising No access
  6. Postelection Fund-Raising No access
2. 1. The For the People Act and the Freedom to Vote Act No access
  2. The Protecting Our Democracy Act No access
  3. Turning to the States No access
  4. A Deregulatory Supreme Court No access
3. 1. The Symbolic Value of Campaign Finance No access
  2. The Murky Policy Implications of the 2020 Election No access
4. Notes No access
Index No access Pages 223 - 232