Table of Contents
Establish Candidacy and Open a Campaign Committee
Potential candidates must meet all requirements established by the Department of Elections to become qualified to have their name printed on the ballot. Individuals interested in running for office should review the Department of Elections’ candidate resources webpage.
To open a campaign committee and begin accepting contributions, potential candidates must file a Form 501 – Candidate Intention Statement and a Form 410 – Statement of Organization with the Ethics Commission. Links to these forms and additional information can be found on the Getting Started page of the Commission’s website.
Know the Rules of the Program
Candidates and their treasurers are responsible for knowing and adhering to all applicable laws and rules related to the Public Financing Program, as well as state and local laws regarding campaign finance.
These laws and rules can be explored on the Campaign Finance Laws page of the Commission’s website, the Candidates page of the Commission’s website, the California Fair Political Practice Commission’s (“FPPC”) Campaign Disclosure Manual for local candidates, and the Public Financing Program page of the Commission’s website.
Maintain a System of Recordkeeping
It is vital that all candidates implement a good system of recordkeeping for all financial activity by their committee, regardless of whether or not they seek or receive public funds. Such records are necessary for the preparation of accurate and complete campaign statements. Candidates and treasurers are required to retain records related to all reported campaign activity for four years from the date of filing campaign statements.
The Audit Records page of the Commission’s website lists the categories of records that committees are required to maintain under state and local law and regulation. When a committee is audited, Commission auditors will request these same categories of records.
Important Note: All publicly financed candidates are subject to mandatory audits. Whatever method is used to organize records should be used consistently throughout the campaign.
File the Statement of Participation
Prior to submitting a Public Financing application, all candidates must electronically file a Form 142(a) – Statement of Participation or Non-Participation and indicate whether or not they wish to participate by checking the appropriate box. This formmust be filed no later than the deadline for filing nomination papers (see Department of Elections’ candidate resources webpage). New or amended Statement of Participation forms will not be accepted after the deadline. Candidates are encouraged to file the Statement of Participation as early as possible to avoid any technical issues.
Obtain an IRS Form W-9
To receive payments under the Public Financing Program, an eligible candidate committee must be issued a Supplier ID in the City’s procurement system. To receive a Supplier ID, committees must provide a signed and dated IRS Form W-9 that contains the full name, address and EIN of the entity that will be receiving payments. The address listed on the IRS Form W-9 will be used for distribution of check payments. Commission staff will request your committee’s Form W-9 when you file a Qualifying Request.
Take the Candidate & Treasurer Training
Candidates for City office and their treasurers are required to complete an Ethics Commission Training between 12 months and 30 days before an election. Candidates may apply for and receive public funds prior to taking the training, but must ensure that the training has been completed more than 30 days before the election.
The online training video and instructions for filing a Certificate of Training can be found on the Training for Candidates & Treasurers page of the Commission’s website.
Comply with Program Eligibility Requirements
Candidates must continuously meet the following requirements in order to participate in the Public Financing Program. If at any point a candidate is found to have violated any requirement, payments of public funds will be terminated, and the candidate will be required to repay any public funds received.
Requirements for All Candidates
- Do not accept any loans from third-parties, and do not loan or donate more than $5,000 in personal funds to the committee.
- Bear the burden of proving that each contribution used to establish eligibility is a qualifying contribution and that expenditures made with public funds were used only for qualified campaign expenditures.
- Do not make any payments to a contractor or vendor in return for the contractor or vendor making a campaign contribution to the committee; and do not make more than a total of fifty payments to a contractor or vendor who contributed to the committee.
- Agree to participate in at least three debates with opponents.
- Pay any outstanding fines owed to the City by the candidate or any committee for which the candidate was the controlling candidate or treasurer.
- File any outstanding statements, reports, or forms owed to the City by the candidate or any of their campaign committees.
- Have no finding by a court within the past five years that the candidate knowingly, willfully, or intentionally violated CFRO or the campaign finance provisions of the Political Reform Act.
Specific Requirements for Candidates for Board of Supervisors
- Seek election to the Board of Supervisors and be eligible to hold office if elected.
- Be opposed by a candidate who has qualified for public financing or who has received contributions and/or made expenditures of $10,000 or more.
- Agree to a campaign spending limit (“Individual Expenditure Ceiling”) of $350,000 (amount subject to adjustment by the Ethics Commission).
Specific Requirements for Candidates for Mayor
- Seek election to the Office of Mayor and be eligible to hold office if elected.
- Be opposed by a candidate who has qualified for public financing or who has received contributions and/or made expenditures of $100,000 or more.
- Agree to a campaign spending limit (“Individual Expenditure Ceiling”) of $1,700,000 (amount subject to adjustment by the Ethics Commission).
Important Note: The rules of the program apply to the candidate’s campaign activities both before and after the date of the election and do not cease at the close of the public financing application period.