Virginia is known for its lax campaign finance laws, a quirk in the state code that led to former Governor Bob McDonnell’s high-profile corruption trial. While that case led to changes in the state’s ethics laws, one loophole is still open.
Candidates can spend campaign cash on anything. Cell phone packages for children. Gas to drive to Richmond and back. Lavish hotels. The sky’s the limit in terms of what candidates can buy with all that money they raise from lobbyists and special interests. That’s something that Democratic Delegate Marcus Simon says needs to change.
"My opponent expensed, I think $3.85 at McDonald’s on a weekend while he was out canvassing. In my view, you may be out canvassing but you ought to be able to pay for your own meal at a fast food restaurant while you are out there doing it.”
Earlier this year Simon proposed creating new limitations. Republican Delegate Mark Cole had a similar bill, but neither even got out of committee. Opponents were concerned that with such strict rules, a candidate could accidentally run afoul of the law by doing something innocent, say sharing campaign donuts with family members. But Paul Seamus Ryan at Common Cause says that’s ridiculous.
“I don’t know of anyone who has ever been prosecuted taking home leftovers of a box of donuts for their family. The much more typical scenario is that candidates really abuse their donor’s money.”
This year on the campaign trail, candidates on both sides of the aisle have singled out this particular loophole as one worth closing. So by this time next year, campaign cash might not be quite so freewheeling in the Old Dominion.