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Campaign finance requirements in New York
 in New York |
 |
Federal campaign finance laws and regulations |
|---|
| Campaign finance reform |
| History of campaign finance reform |
| State by state comparison of campaign finance reporting requirements |
| Election policy |
| State information |
Campaign finance requirements govern how much money candidates and campaigns may receive from individuals and organizations, how 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.
This page provides background on campaign finance regulation, lists contribution limits to state candidates and ballot measures in New York, compares contribution limits to gubernatorial and state legislative candidates in New York with those from other states, and details the candidate reporting requirements in New York.
The information on this page pertains to candidates for state office and state ballot measures. Candidates for federal office are subject to federal campaign finance law. Candidates for local office are subject to all applicable state laws as well as any separate local campaign finance regulations.[1]
Background
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.[2] 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.[3]
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.[4] 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, reNew Yorkd unchanged.[5][6] 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.[7]
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. Candidates for local office must follow any applicable state and local campaign finance regulations.
Contribution limits
The table below details contribution limits as they applied to various types of individuals and groups in New York as of August 2025. The uppermost row of the table indicates the contributor, while the leftmost column indicates the recipient.
| Individuals | PACs | Political party | Super PACs | Corporations | Unions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Statewide candidate (e.g., governor) | $9,000 | $9,000 | unlimited[8] | - | $5,000[9] | $9,000 | |||
| Senate candidate | $5,000 | $5,000 | unlimited[10] | - | $5,000[11] | $5,000 | |||
| Assembly | $3,000 | $3,000 | unlimited[12] | - | $5,000[13] | $3,000 | |||
| PAC | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | - | unlimited | unlimited | |||
| Party committees | $138,600 | unlimited | unlimited | - | $5,000 | unlimited | |||
| Ballot measures | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | - | unlimited | unlimited | |||
| Party committee limits apply per calendar year. Other limits apply per election stage. | |||||||||
| Sources: New York State Board of Elections, "2025 Contribution Limits," accessed August 18, 2025; Lewis County, "2025 Contribution Limits," accessed August 18, 2025; National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Limits on Contributions to Candidates 2023-2024 Election Cycle," accessed August 18, 2025 | |||||||||
State comparisons in the 2024 elections
Candidate reporting requirements
See statutes: Article 14 of the New York Election Law
Candidates for statewide and state legislative office must disclose all campaign receipts and expenditures, including personal money, to the State Board of Elections. Candidates may comply with reporting requirements in one of three ways:[15][16]
- 1.) The candidate may choose to file on his or her own behalf.
- The candidate is responsible for filing his or her own campaign finance reports. The candidate must also disclose the name and address of the bank at which he or she keeps the account used to conduct campaign financial activity. The candidate must file a "Candidate Campaign Finance Registration Form to Request NYSBOE Filer ID# and PIN (CF-04)" form.[15][16]
- 2.) The candidate may use an authorized committee to file reports.
- A candidate may elect to authorize a committee to fulfill his or her campaign's finance filing requirements. The candidate must submit a "Candidate's Authorization for a Committee to Make All Campaign Financial Disclosures (CF-16)" form. Choosing to file in this way does not absolve the candidate of responsibility or liability for the campaign's financial activities. The CF-16 form must be submitted no later than 32 days prior to the first election for which the candidate would be required to file reports.[15][16]
- 3.) Both the candidate and authorized committee file reports.
A candidate may claim an exemption from filing requirements if he or she has not and will not receive or spend more than $50 for campaign purposes (this includes personal funds). A candidate seeking this exemption must file a "Candidate or Committee Claim of Exemption from Filing Campaign Financial Disclosure Reports (CF-05)" form.[15][17]
An authorized candidate committee must file a "Committee Registration/Treasurer and Bank Information Form (CF-02)," which notes the committee's name, type, treasurer, bank or financial depository, and candidate supported. This form must be filed within five days of choosing a treasurer and depository and prior to receiving any contributors or making any expenditures. The committee must also submit a "Committee Authorization Status Form (CF-03)," which notes whether the committee has been authorized by the candidate the committee is supporting.[15][18][19]
Campaign finance reports must include the following types of information:[15]
- Contributions
- includes both monetary and in-kind contributions, as well as other receipts (interest payments, proceeds from a sale or lease, etc.)
- Expenditures
- includes payments made for goods or services rendered, reimbursements to individuals, and reimbursements for credit card expenses
- Transfers
- includes transfers between a party or committee and a candidate or his or her authorized committee
- Loans, liabilities, refunds
- includes loans received, loan repayments, loans or liabilities that have been forgiven, refunds (both those that increase cash balance, such as return of deposits, refunds from overpayment, etc., and those that decrease cash balance, such as refunded contributions)
When a contributor makes a contribution that is either greater than $99 by itself or causes the contributor's aggregate contributions for the election cycle to exceed $99, the contributions must be itemized and the contributor's name and address must be noted. When a single expenditure exceeds $49.99, it must be itemized and the name and address of the payee and the amount, date, and purpose of the expenditure must be noted.[15]
Campaign finance reports must be filed electronically using the NYSBOE’s Electronic Filing System (EFS) software.[15]
There are three types of campaign financial disclosure reports that must be filed during each election (primary, general and special) in which the candidate or committee participates. These are detailed in the tables below.[15][20][21]
| Report type | Deadline to file |
|---|---|
| First pre-primary report | 32nd day prior to the primary |
| Second pre-primary report | 11th day prior to the primary |
| Post-primary report | 10th day following the primary |
| Report type | Deadline to file |
|---|---|
| First pre-general/special report | 32nd day prior to the election |
| Second pre-general/special report | 11th day prior to the election |
| Post-general/special report | 27th day following the election |
When a contribution or loan over $1,000 is received after the cut-off date for the second pre-election report, a special notice must be filed within 24 hours of receipt.[15]
Campaign finance legislation
The table below displays bills related to campaign finance introduced during or carried over to New York's current legislative session.[22]
Election and campaign ballot measures
Election administration agencies
Election agencies
- See also: State election agencies
Individuals seeking additional information about election administration in New York can contact the following local, state, and federal agencies.
New York County Boards of Elections
New York State Board of Elections
- 40 North Pearl St., Suite 5
- Albany, New York 12207-2729
- Phone: 518-473-5086
- Toll free: 1-800-367-8683
- Fax: 518-486-4546
- Email: info@elections.ny.gov
- Website: https://elections.ny.gov
U.S. Election Assistance Commission
- 633 3rd Street NW, Suite 200
- Washington, DC 20001
- Phone: 301-563-3919
- Toll free: 1-866-747-1471
- Email: clearinghouse@eac.gov
- Website: https://www.eac.gov
Federal Election Commission (FEC)
- 1050 First Street, NE
- Washington, DC 20463
- Telephone: (202)-694-1100
- Toll-free: 1-800-424-9530
- Email: info@fec.gov
- Website: http://www.fec.gov/
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms New York campaign finance. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Campaign finance regulation
- Ballot access requirements for political candidates in New York
- New York
Footnotes
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Campaign Finance Enforcement," accessed May 28, 2025
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "About the FEC," accessed June 27, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Candidate Registration Brochure," accessed December 7, 2012
- ↑ New York Times, "Justices, 5-4, Reject Corporate Spending Limit," January 21, 2010
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Speechnow.org v. FEC," April 7, 2014
- ↑ OpenSecrets, "Two Federal Court Rulings Could Change Campaign Finance Landscape," March 26, 2010
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Ongoing Litigation," accessed March 18, 2015
- ↑ Prohibited in primary election; unlimited in general election.
- ↑ Corporations are limited to $5,000 in aggregate contributions annually.
- ↑ Prohibited in primary election; unlimited in general election.
- ↑ Corporations are limited to $5,000 in aggregate contributions annually.
- ↑ Prohibited in primary election; unlimited in general election.
- ↑ Corporations are limited to $5,000 in aggregate contributions annually.
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Limits on Contributions to Candidates 2023-2024 Election Cycle," accessed May 8, 2025
- ↑ 15.00 15.01 15.02 15.03 15.04 15.05 15.06 15.07 15.08 15.09 15.10 New York State Board of Elections, "Campaign Finance Handbook 2013," accessed February 13, 2014
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 New York Election Law, "Article 14, Section 104," accessed February 13, 2014
- ↑ New York Election Law, "Article 14, Section 124," accessed February 13, 2014
- ↑ New York Election Law, "Article 14, Section 118," accessed February 13, 2014
- ↑ New York Election Law, "Article 14, Section 112," accessed February 13, 2014
- ↑ New York Election Law, "Article 14, Section 108," accessed February 13, 2014
- ↑ New York Election Law, "Article 14, Section 108," accessed February 13, 2014
- ↑ Bills are organized by most recent action. Clicking on a bill will open its page on Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker, which includes bill details and a summary.
