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Campaign finance requirements in Maine
 in Maine |
 |
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 Maine, compares contribution limits to gubernatorial and state legislative candidates in Maine with those from other states, and details the candidate reporting requirements in Maine.
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 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 require their own level of regulation and reporting. The amount of regulation required differs by state, as do the 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 Maine as of July 2025. The uppermost row of the table indicates the contributor, while the leftmost column indicates the recipient.[8]
| Individuals | PACs | Political Party | Super PACs | Corporations | Unions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Statewide candidate (e.g., governor) | $2,075* | $2,075 | $2,07* | $0 | $2,075 | $2,075 | |||
| Senate candidate | $500* | $500 | $500 | $0 | $500 | $500 | |||
| House candidate | $500* | $500 | $500 | $0 | $500 | $500 | |||
| PAC | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | $0 | Unlimited | Unlimited | |||
| Party committees | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | $0 | Unlimited | Unlimited | |||
| Ballot measures | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | $0 | Unlimited | Unlimited | |||
| Limits apply per election. | |||||||||
| *The primary limits do not apply to candidates who do not belong of the three officially recognized political parties in Maine. | |||||||||
| Sources: Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics & Election Contributions, "Limits on Contributions to Candidates," accessed July 27, 2025, Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics & Election Contributions, "Party Committees & PAC Expenditures," accessed July 27, 2025 | |||||||||
State comparisons in the 2024 elections
Candidate reporting requirements
See statutes: Title 21-A, Chapter 13 of the Maine Revised Statutes
A candidate is recognized as such when he or she begins raising or spending money for campaign purposes, files nomination papers, registers with the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices, or is nominated by a party committee to fill a vacancy. Before accepting contributions, making expenditures, or incurring financial obligations, a candidate must appoint a campaign treasurer. The treasurer is responsible for keeping detailed financial records and completing and submitting campaign finance reports. A candidate may legally serve as his or her own treasurer.[10][11][12][13]
Within 10 days of appointing a treasurer, a candidate must file a "Candidate Registration" form with the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices. If a candidate elects to form a campaign committee, he or she must identify it with the Commission within 10 days of appointing the committee.[11]
A candidate is required by law to keep a separate bank account for campaign purposes. The candidate must deposit all contributions into this account.[12][13]
Candidates are required to file regular campaign finance reports, which include the following types of information (broken down by report section):[13]
- Contributions
- Individual monetary and in-kind contributions over $50 during the reporting period must be itemized, including the contributor's address, occupation, and employer, the date of the contribution, and a description for in-kind contributions
- Reporting fees for an online fundraising service
- Information regarding the total fees for the reporting period must be noted
- Expenditures
- Expenditures the candidate made during the reporting period, including date, amount, payee, and explanation of purpose, must be reported
- Loans and loan repayments
- Information regarding loans received, loans forgiven, and payments made must be noted
- Unpaid debts and obligations
- All unpaid debts and other obligations that are unpaid as of the close of the reporting period must be reported
A candidate must file reports electronically if he or she has receipts of greater than $1,500. The candidate may file a waiver to be exempted from the requirement.[14]
Reporting schedules vary according to the office sought. Special reports must be filed within 24 hours when a candidate either receives a single contribution of $1,000 or more or makes an expenditure or incurs an unpaid obligation of $1,000 or more in the 13-day period leading up to an election.[13]
Campaign finance legislation
The table below displays bills related to campaign finance introduced during or carried over to Maine's current legislative session.[15]
Election and campaign ballot measures
Ballotpedia has tracked 18 statewide ballot measures relating to elections and campaigns.
- Maine Campaign Promises Initiative (2009)
- Maine Direct Primary Repeal, Referendum Question (1927)
- Maine Direct Primary, Question No. 4 (1911)
- Maine Uniform Ballot Boxes, Question No. 1 (1912)
- Maine Biddeford Elections, Question No. 5 (1940)
- Maine Constitutional Amendment 4, Military Service Voting Clarification Amendment (September 1955)
- Maine Repeal Treasurer Term Limit, Proposed Constitutional Amendment No. 1 (1951)
- Maine Constitutional Amendment 2, November General Election Amendment (September 1957)
- Maine Constitutional Revision Election Amendment (1908)
- Maine Constitutional Amendment Voting, Question No. 2 (1913)
- Maine Division of Towns into Polling Places, Proposed Amendment No. 3 (1917)
- Maine Division of Towns into Polling Places, Proposed Constitutional Amendment No. 1 (1920)
- Maine Voting Machines, Amendment No. 1 (1933)
- Maine Voting Machines, Amendment No. 3 (1935)
- Maine "Clean Elections" Initiative, Question 1 (2015)
- Maine Question 5, Ranked-Choice Voting Initiative (2016)
- Maine Question 1, Ranked-Choice Voting Delayed Enactment and Automatic Repeal Referendum (June 2018)
- Maine Question 2, Prohibit Foreign Spending in Elections Initiative (2023)
Election administration agencies
Contact information
- See also: State election agencies
Individuals seeking additional information about election administration in Maine can contact the following local, state, and federal agencies.
Maine Municipal Clerks and Registrars
Secretary of State, Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions
- 101 State House Station
- Augusta, Maine 04333-0101
- Phone: 207-624-7736
- Fax: 207-287-5428
- Email: cec.elections@maine.gov
- Website: http://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/index.html
Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices
- Physical Address: 45 Memorial Circle, 2nd Floor
- Augusta, Maine 04330
- Mailing Address: 135 State House Station
- Augusta, Maine 04333
- Phone: 207-287-4179
- Fax: 207-287-6775
- Email: ethics@maine.gov
- Website: https://www.maine.gov/ethics/
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 Maine 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
- ↑ Vox, "Super PACs can spend unlimited amounts on elections, but must disclose their donors," accessed July 27, 2015
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Limits on Contributions to Candidates 2023-2024 Election Cycle," accessed May 8, 2025
- ↑ Maine Revised Statutes, "Title 21-A, Chapter 13, Subchapter 2, Section 1016," accessed July 27, 2025
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Maine Revised Statutes, "Title 21-A, Chapter 13, Subchapter 2, Section 1013," accessed July 27, 2025
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices, "2022 Gubernatorial Candidate's Guide," accessed July 27, 2025
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices, "2024 Candidate's Guide for Traditionally Financed Legislative and County Candidates," accessed July 27, 2025
- ↑ Maine Revised Statutes, "Title 21-A, Chapter 13, Subchapter 2, Section 1017," accessed July 27, 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.
