Campaign finance requirements in West Virginia
 in West Virginia |
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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 West Virginia, compares contribution limits to gubernatorial and state legislative candidates in West Virginia with those from other states, and details the candidate reporting requirements in West Virginia.
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 rules governing federal election campaigns and contributions have evolved over the past generation as result of a number of Supreme Court decisions. 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 West Virginia 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 (incl. Governor) | $2,800 | $2,800 | $2,800 | $0 | $0 | $2,800 | |||
| Senate | $2,800 | $2,800 | $2,800 | $0 | $0 | $2,800 | |||
| House | $2,800 | $2,800 | $2,800 | $0 | $0 | $2,800 | |||
| PAC | $5,000 | $0 | $5,000 | $0 | $0 | $5,000 | |||
| Party committees | $10,000 | $10,000 | $10,000 | $0 | $0 | $10,000 | |||
| Ballot measures | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | $0 | unlimited | unlimited | |||
| Limits apply per election, except for party committees, which have limits per calendar year. | |||||||||
| Sources: West Virginia Secretary of State, "Candidate Campaign Finance Guide," accessed August 14, 2025 West Virginia Secretary of State, "Political Action Committee/Political Party Committee Campaign Finance Guide," accessed August 14, 2025 |
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State comparisons in the 2024 elections
Candidate reporting requirements
See statutes: Chapter 3, Article 8 of the West Virginia Code
Each candidate must file a Candidate Financial Disclosure Statement with the West Virginia Ethics Commission within 10 days of filing the Certificate of Announcement.[9]
Each candidate campaign committee "shall keep detailed accounts of every sum of money or other thing of value received by him or her, including all loans of money or things of value and of all expenditures and disbursements made, or liabilities incurred, by the candidate or political committee."[10]
The candidate committee should keep the receipts of all financial transactions for accounting purposes. The West Virginia Secretary of State or county clerk may conduct an audit, and the receipts would need to be presented for review.[11]
Campaign financial statement requirements
Each financial statement required by the reporting schedule, other than a disclosure of electioneering communications, must contain the following information:[12]
- the name, residence, and mailing address and telephone number of each candidate, financial agent, treasurer, or person and the name, address, and telephone number of each association, organization, or committee filing a financial statement;
- the balance of cash and any other sum of money on hand at the beginning and the end of the period covered by the financial statement;
- the name of any person making a contribution and the amount of the contribution;
- the total amount of contributions received during the period covered by the financial statement;
- the name, residence, and mailing address of any individual or the name and mailing address of each lending institution making a loan;
- the name, residence, and mailing address of any individual or the name and mailing address of each partnership, firm, association, committee, organization, or group having previously made or cosigned a loan for which payment is made or a balance is outstanding at the end of the period, together with the amount of repayment on the loan made during the period and the balance at the end of the period;
- the total outstanding balance of all loans at the end of the period;
- the name, residence, and mailing address of any person to whom each expenditure was made or liability incurred;
- the total expenditure for the nomination, election, or defeat of a candidate or any person supporting, aiding, or opposing the nomination, election, or defeat of any candidate in whose behalf an expenditure was made or a contribution was given for the primary or other election; and
- the total amount of expenditures made during the period covered by the financial statement.
Campaign finance reporting
Each candidate is required to file campaign finance reports until the candidate's campaign committee is closed. The transaction period is the specific time period during which the committee must track all contributions and expenditures for campaign finance reports. Financial activity tracked during each transaction period must be recorded on the campaign financial statement and submitted during the appropriate time period in which the report is due.[9]
Campaign finance legislation
The table below displays bills related to campaign finance introduced during or carried over to West Virginia's current legislative session.[13]
Election and campaign ballot measures
Election administration agencies
Election agencies
- See also: State election agencies
Individuals seeking additional information about election administration in West Virginia can contact the following local, state, and federal agencies.
West Virginia County Clerks
West Virginia Secretary of State, Elections Division
- State Capitol Bldg.
- Charleston, West Virginia 25305
- Phone: 304-558-6000
- Toll free: 866-767-8683
- Fax: 304-558-0900
- Email: elections@wvsos.gov
- Website: http://www.sos.wv.gov/elections/pages/default.aspx
West Virginia Ethics Commission
- 210 Brooks Street, Suite 300
- Charleston, West Virginia 25301
- Phone: 304-558-0664
- Toll free: 866-558-0664
- Fax: 304-558-2169
- Email: ethics@wv.gov
- Website: http://www.ethics.wv.gov/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 West Virginia 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 West Virginia
- West Virginia
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 West Virginia Secretary of State, "2026 Running for Office Guide," accessed August 17, 2025
- ↑ West Virginia Code, "Chapter 3-8-5," accessed August 17, 2025
- ↑ West Virginia Code, "Chapter 3-8-7," accessed August 17, 2025
- ↑ West Virginia Code, "Chapter 3-8-5(a)," accessed August 17, 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.
