This started off, of course, thinking of the cash Wellstone had leftover in his campaign coffers. He had to have some, right? Now what happens to it? Do donors get a rebate? Does it go to the DFL or DNC or the general campaign fund?
What about losing campaigns? What did, e.g., Rudy Boschwitz do with the money left over from his campaign after Wellstone beat him?
Do such matters fall under State or Federal guidelines? Did Ashcroft have to do something different after he lost to Carnahan?
Bugger. Meant to add:
If Fritz Mondale takes up the campaign mantle, does he get Wellstone’s war chest?
It depends. I don’t recall the federal rules in detail, but I think that his campaign could donate it to the national party, which can through this election run “soft money” ads on behalf of the new candidate provided it is so disclosed. Each jurisdiction has different rules. This would be governed by the FEC, Federal Elections Commission, which has a web site that should explain what the treasurer can do under these circumstances.
Robert Torricelli (the disgraced New Jersey senator who has dropped out of that race) had an enormous $5 million war chest, but only a small bit is going to his successor on the ballot, Frank Lautenberg. $3 million is going to pay his legal and campaign bills, and then more than $1 million is going to set up a new PAC. So it seems that it’s at the candidate’s (or, in Wellstone’s case, his campaign’s) discretion. Local laws may vary, however.
I am also reminded of Jim Jeffords, the turncoat Senator who switched from Republican to independent, refunding contributions to donors who felt they had been cheated. Candidates can keep or spend it as they see fit, as long as it’s all reported according to election laws.
Sorry, meant to add: no, Mondale won’t get Wellstone’s money automatically. The Wellstone campaign could, and likely will hand it over, but it’s not required.
This may apply more to local politics, but my dad has told me most of the people he knows in our county government spend whatever’s left in their campaign fund on the election night party.