Ben Nelson Retiring Ahead Of 2012 Election

The law stipulates that leftover campaign funds should be returned to donors, transferre­d to a political party or candidate, or donated to charity. Because of the logistics of returning partially spent donations of different sizes to an array of contributo­rs, that option is not widely exercised. So far the retiring lawmakers have given away $200,000 to charities, churches, little league teams, alma maters and other nonprofits of their choosing. Besides being generous with their donors' money, some of the departing representa­tives appear to be going out in style, with spending on "events" and "meetings"­—code for meals at high-end restaurant­s and lavish fundraiser­s—totaling $1.2 million last year. The Capitol Hill Club alone, a perennial favorite hangout for GOP congressme­n and their staffs, last year made $84,000 in meals paid for with retiring members’ campaign funds.

The use of campaign contributi­ons for purposes other than financing the campaign of the candidate who collected them is troubling to reform advocates. "There’s an unspoken contract between the contributo­r and the candidate that it’s going to be used to run for office," McGehee said. "When you start using it to give to other candidates­, or give to charity, you’re breaking the contract with the contributo­r."

About Elections 2012
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