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Campaign finance requirements in Oregon
 in Oregon |
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Federal campaign finance laws and regulations |
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| 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 Oregon, compares contribution limits to gubernatorial and state legislative candidates in Oregon with those from other states, and details the candidate reporting requirements in Oregon.
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 fifteen 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, remained 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 Oregon as of September 2025. The uppermost row of the table indicates the contributor, while the leftmost column indicates the recipient.
| Individuals | Single candidates committees | PACs | Political Party | Super PACs | Corporations | Unions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Statewide candidate (e.g., governor) | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | $0 | unlimited | unlimited | ||
| Senate candidate | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | $0 | unlimited | unlimited | ||
| House candidate | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | $0 | unlimited | unlimited | ||
| PAC | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | $0 | unlimited | unlimited | ||
| Party committees | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | $0 | unlimited | unlimited | ||
| Ballot measures | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | $0 | unlimited | unlimited | ||
| Sources: Oregon Secretary of State Elections Division, "Campaign Finance Manual," accessed September 3, 2025 | |||||||||
State comparisons in the 2024 elections
Candidate reporting requirements
See statutes: Chapter 260 of the Oregon Revised Statutes
A candidate must form a candidate committee, unless he or she meets all of the following conditions:[9][10]
- The candidate elects to serve as his or her own treasurer.
- The candidate does not have an existing candidate committee.
- The candidate does not expect to receive or spend more than $750 during a calendar year (including personal funds).
A candidate committee must file with the Elections Division of the Oregon Secretary of State a Statement of Organization within three business days of first receiving a contribution or making an expenditure. Statements of Organization may be filed electronically via ORESTAR (Oregon Election System for Tracking and Reporting). The Statement of Organization may also be filed in print format by mailing, faxing, or hand-delivering the requisite forms. A form including campaign account information must accompany the Statement of Organization.[9][11]
All candidate committees must establish a dedicated campaign account that meets all of the following standards:[9][12]
- The account must be established in a financial institution located in Oregon.
- The account must be maintained in the name of the committee.
- All expenditures made by the committee must be drawn from the account and issued via check, debit card or other means of electronic transmission.
- All contributions must be deposited into the campaign account within seven days of receipt.
- The account can only include contributions or money from other receipts received by the committee.
The candidate committee must designate a treasurer, who in turn must sign and file the Statement of Organization. The candidate may serve as his or her own committee treasurer.[9][13]
Generally speaking, the candidate and treasurer are responsible for the following:[9][14]
- establishing a dedicated campaign account in accordance with the previously stated requirements and filing a Statement of Organization
- signing and filing transaction reports
- keeping detailed financial records current to within seven days of each contribution or expenditure
- preserving records for each transaction for at least two years after the date of the transaction
Candidate committees that expect to receive $5,000 or more in a calendar year are required to report all "transactions" via ORESTAR. Transactions include contributions, expenditures, other receipts and disbursements and all other committee financial activities. Generally, transaction reports are due no later than 30 calendar days after the date of the transaction, though there are times when transaction reports are due within seven calendar days of the date of the transaction.[9][15]
A candidate committee that does not expect to receive more than $5,000 in contributions or make more than $5,000 in expenditures is required to file a Statement of Organization and designate a campaign bank account, but does not have to file transactions via ORESTAR. Instead, the committee must file a Certificate of Limited Contributions and Expenditures. This form may be filed electronically via ORESTAR or may be submitted on paper.[9]
Campaign finance legislation
The table below displays bills related to campaign finance introduced during or carried over to Oregon's current legislative session.[16]
Election and campaign ballot measures
Ballotpedia has tracked 4 statewide ballot measures relating to elections and campaigns.
- Oregon Measure 90, Top-Two Primaries Initiative (2014)
- Oregon Measure 117, Ranked-Choice Voting for Federal and State Elections Measure (2024)
- Oregon Measure Nos. 302-303, Establish Direct Primary System for Party Nominations Initiative (June 1904)
- Oregon Measure Nos. 326-327, Require Legislature to Elect U.S. Senate Candidate Receiving Most Votes in Election Initiative (June 1908)
Election administration agencies
Election agencies
- See also: State election agencies
Individuals seeking additional information about election administration in Oregon can contact the following local, state, and federal agencies.
Oregon County Elections Officials
Oregon Secretary of State, Elections Division
- Public Service Building Suite 126
- 255 Capitol St. NE
- Salem, Oregon 97310
- Phone: 503-986-1518
- Toll free: 1-866-673-8683
- Fax: 503-373-7414
- Email: elections.sos@state.or.us
- Website: http://sos.oregon.gov
Oregon Government Ethics Commission
- 3218 Pringle Road SE, Suite 220
- Salem, Oregon 97302-1680
- Phone: 503-378-5105
- Fax: 503-373-1456
- Email: mail@ogec.oregon.gov
- Website: https://www.oregon.gov/ogec/pages/default.aspx
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 Oregon campaign finance. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
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
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Limits on Contributions to Candidates 2023-2024 Election Cycle," accessed May 8, 2025
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 Oregon Secretary of State Elections Division, "Campaign Finance Manual," accessed September 3, 2025
- ↑ Oregon Revised Statutes, "Chapter 260, Section 043," accessed September 3, 2025
- ↑ Oregon Revised Statutes, "Chapter 260, Section 039," accessed September 3, 2025
- ↑ Oregon Revised Statutes, "Chapter 260, Section 054," accessed September 3, 2025
- ↑ Oregon Revised Statutes, "Chapter 260, Section 035," accessed September 3, 2025
- ↑ Oregon Revised Statutes, "Chapter 260, Section 037," accessed September 3, 2025
- ↑ Oregon Revised Statutes, "Chapter 260, Section 057," accessed September 3, 2025
- ↑ 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.
