Election Process and Campaign Finance

Elections occur every four years on the second Tuesday of November, as outlined in the Constitution.
Money is crucial for winning elections; without it, candidates have little chance due to lack of visibility and resources.

Incumbents, those already in office, have a significant advantage.
Name recognition and spotlight due to their current position.
House members, with no term limits, benefit from long-term incumbency, especially with strong local connections and financial influence.

Primary Election:
- Functions like playoffs, narrowing down candidates to two.
- Voters choose their preferred candidate from their party (Democrats vote in the Democratic primary, etc.).
- Independents' ability to vote in primaries varies by state.
Caucus:
- An older method, used in only a couple of states like Iowa and New Hampshire.
National Conventions:
- Celebrate the winning candidate after the primaries; party platforms are created.
- Involve speeches, performances, and are often considered boring.

Closed Primary:
- Voters must register their party affiliation in advance.
- Independents are excluded.
- Example: Not North Carolina.
Open Primary:
- Voters declare party affiliation on election day.
- Independents can choose which party's primary to vote in, possibly strategically.
- North Carolina has a semi-closed primary system: registered party members vote within their party, while independents can choose.
Blanket/Jungle Primary:
- Voters can vote for multiple candidates across different parties.

Voting based on evaluating candidates and issues rather than strict party alignment.

Involve rank and file party members gathering in public spaces.
Candidates or representatives speak, followed by group discussions and voting.
Multiple rounds of voting can include elimination, with top vote-getters remaining.
Caucuses are seen as archaic due to their public nature, making some voters uncomfortable.
Iowa and New Hampshire are the primary states that still use this method.
Participants are highly dedicated to their political party.

Iowa holds the first primary election, usually a caucus, followed by New Hampshire, also a caucus.
Winning these early contests provides momentum.
Candidates who fail to win states often drop out and endorse others, consolidating voter bases.

A crucial day when numerous states hold primaries.
Helps identify frontrunners for each party's nomination.
In 2020, several candidates dropped out before Super Tuesday and endorsed Joe Biden, impacting Bernie Sanders' campaign.
Even incumbent presidents must go through the primary process, although they usually win easily and have recently started dropping out after all the state's primary elections.

Winning states earns candidates delegates who attend the national convention.
Delegates pledge their support to a candidate, officially casting votes on behalf of their state.
States allocate delegates either through a winner-take-all or proportional system.

Unelected officials who can support any candidate, not bound by state votes.
Their presence can potentially cause a contested convention if they don't align with primary results.
Democrats give more delegates to large states; Republicans favor loyal states.
In 2020, the Republican delegates needed were $1,276$ for a nomination, while Democrats needed $1,885$ .
The convention includes speeches from nominee, vice president, celebrities, and politicians.

Candidates focus on swing states: North Carolina, Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada, and possibly Minnesota.
Delegates are not a factor.

Each state's number of electors equals its senators (always two) plus representatives in the House.
$270$ electoral votes are needed to win the U.S. presidency.
Most states use a majority-wins system, except Nebraska and Maine, which split their votes.
If there's a tie (269-269), the House of Representatives elects the president, with each state casting one vote.
The census every 10 eyars determines population and distribution of representatives.

Formed around specific interests, acting as subsections of interest groups (e.g., NRA having multiple PACs).
PACs collect and spend money and create political ads to donate.
Connected PACs collect from members of their organization .

Before 2010, PACs were regulated, registered with the FEC, and had donation caps. They could not take money from corporations or unions, with individual $5,000 limits.
They could give at most $5,000$ directly to a candidate and could not coordinate with campaigns.
PACs could use extra money in indirect ways to rally/advertise for candidates.
Citizens United vs. FEC (2010):
- Ruled that electioneering communications are protected under freedom of speech, allowing unlimited spending.
- Stated the corporations can donate money because they are a group of people and donate money is a form of their speech.
Super PACs:
- Cannot donate money directly to people in the federal jobs.
- Cannot coordinate campaigns.
- Can unlimited money, which makes a big influence to winning.
- Money = Influence.
- Often donate to the incumbent because their win is often assumed.
The speaker cusses in the video at one instance, which causes the speaker to apologize.

FEC (Federal Election Commission) monitors and enforces campaign finance regulations.

Hard Money: Donations to a candidate directly regulated by the PACs ( $5,000$ limit) because it is traced and regulated.
Soft Money: donations to the political party or interest group.
Not easy to trace because interest group can give candidate $50, retain $50 to buy ads.
Donations to parties and interest groups are not traced at all. This is an unregulated dark area in campaign finance.
When you donate in politics, most people do it to the incumbents because they figure they always win.
BCRA tried to ban soft money was then overturned.

The source of the money is unknown.
It gets worse and worse over the years and the class is running out of class time.