Campaign finance requirements in Louisiana

---

This article does not contain the most recently published data on this subject. If you would like to help our coverage grow, consider donating to Ballotpedia.

---

Louisiana campaign finance requirements govern the following:

• how much money candidates may receive from individuals and organizations,
• how much and how often they must report those contributions, and
• how much individuals, organizations and political parties may contribute to campaigns.

In addition to direct campaign contributions, campaign finance laws also apply to third-party organizations and nonprofit organizations that seek to influence elections through independent expenditures or issue advocacy.

As of May 2015, in Louisiana, state law allowed individuals, corporations, and unions to contribute as much as $100,000 to PACs, big PACS, and party committees. Political parties could give unlimited contributions to statewide candidates, state house and senate candidates, PACs, big PACs, party committees, and ballot measures.

Background

Seal of the United States Federal Election Commission

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is the independent regulatory agency that administers and enforces federal campaign election laws. The FEC is responsible for disclosing campaign finance information, enforcing limits and prohibitions on contributions, and overseeing public funding of presidential elections. According to the FEC, an individual becomes a federal candidate and must begin reporting campaign finances once he or she has either raised or spent $5,000 in his or her campaign. Within 15 days of this benchmark, the candidate must register with the FEC and designate an official campaign committee, which is responsible for the funds and expenditures of the campaign. This committee must have an official treasurer and cannot support any candidate but the one who registered it. Detailed financial reports are then made to the FEC every financial quarter after the individual is registered. Reports are also made before primaries and before the general election.

The Supreme Court of the United States has issued a number of rulings pertaining to federal election campaign finance regulations. In the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, the court held that corporate funding of independent political broadcasts in candidate elections cannot be limited. The court's decision also overturned the ban on for-profit and not-for-profit corporations and unions broadcasting electioneering communications in the 30 days before a presidential primary and in the 60 days before a general election. In the SpeechNOW.org v. Federal Election Commission decision, the first application of the Citizens United decision, the court held that contribution limits on what individuals could give to independent expenditure-only groups, and the amount these organizations could receive, were unconstitutional. Contribution limits on donations directly to candidates, however, remained unchanged. In 2014's McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission decision, the court overturned biennial aggregate campaign contribution limits, and held that individuals may contribute to as many federal candidates as they want, but may only contribute up to the federal limit in each case.

While the FEC governs federal election campaigns and contribution limits, individual states enforce their own regulation and reporting requirements. Regulations vary by state, as do limits on campaign contributions and third-party activities to influence elections.

Contribution limits

The table below details contribution limits as they applied to various types of individuals and groups in Louisiana as of May 2015. The uppermost row of the table indicates the contributor, while the leftmost column indicates the recipient.

Louisiana contribution limits as of May 2015
	Individuals	Single candidates committees	PACs	Big PAC	Political party	Super PACs	Corporations	Unions
Statewide Candidate (inc governor)	$5,000	excess funds	$5,000	$10,000	unlimited	$0	$5,000	$5,000
Senate candidate	$2,500	excess funds	$2,500	$5,000	unlimited	$0	$2,500	$2,500
House candidate	$2,500	excess funds	$2,500	$5,000	unlimited	$0	$2,500	$2,500
PAC/Big PAC	$100,000	$0	$5,000/$2,500	$10,000/$5,000	unlimited	$0	$100,000	$100,000
Party committees	$100,000	excess funds	$100,000	$100,000	unlimited	$0	$100,000	$100,000
Ballot measures	unlimited	excess funds	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited	$0	unlimited	unlimited
Sources: Louisiana Board of Ethics, "Summary of the Louisiana Campaign Finance Disclosure Act," accessed May 21, 2015

Candidate requirements

Seal of Louisiana

See statutes: Louisiana Campaign Finance Disclosure Act

A candidate running for state executive office or district office must electronically file reports with the Louisiana Ethics Administration Program. A candidate for any other office must file reports only if he or she spends over $2,500 or collects contributions of over $200 from a single source, not including the candidate’s personal funds.

Campaign finance legislation

The following is a list of recent campaign finance bills that have been introduced in or passed by the Louisiana state legislature. To learn more about each of these bills, click the bill title. This information is provided by BillTrack50 and LegiScan.

Note: Due to the nature of the sorting process used to generate this list, some results may not be relevant to the topic. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation pertaining to this topic has been introduced in the legislature recently.

Election and campaign ballot measures

See also: Elections and campaigns on the ballot and List of Louisiana ballot measures

Ballotpedia has tracked 10 statewide ballot measures relating to elections and campaigns.

1. Louisiana Presidential Electors Amendment (1968)
2. Louisiana Legislative Vacancy Amendment (1970)
3. Louisiana Right to Serve at Polls Amendment (1970)
4. Louisiana Elections Amendment (1972)
5. Louisiana Special Elections Amendment (1972)
6. Louisiana Residency Requirement for Voters Amendment (1972)
7. Louisiana Requirements for Write-in Candidates Amendment (1972)
8. Louisiana Unopposed Candidates Amendment (1972)
9. Louisiana Judicial Vacancy Amendment (October 1983)
10. Louisiana Amendment 1, Ban on Private or Foreign Funding of Election Costs Amendment (October 2023)

Election-related agencies

See also: Campaign finance agencies in Louisiana and State election agencies

Candidates running for office may require some form of interaction with the following agencies:

Secretary of State:

Why: This agency oversees candidate filing and election procedures.

Physical address: 8585 Archives Ave., Baton Rouge, LA 70809

Mailing address: P.O. Box 94125, Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9125

Telephone: 225-922-0900

Toll-free: 800-883-2805

Fax: 225-922-0945

http://www.sos.la.gov/

Louisiana Ethics Administration Program:

Why: This agency oversees campaign finance registration and reporting requirements.

Physical address: 617 North Third Street, LaSalle Building, Suite 10-36, Baton Rouge, LA 70802

Mailing address: P.O. Box 4368, Baton Rouge , LA 70821

Telephone: 225-219-5600

Toll-free: 800-842-6630

Fax: 225-381-7271

http://www.ethics.state.la.us/

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Louisiana campaign finance. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Campaign finance requirements in Louisiana - Google News

See also

• Campaign finance regulation
• Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Louisiana
• Louisiana