3517.103 Deposit of personal funds in candidate's own campaign fund.
3517.103 Deposit of personal funds in candidate's own campaign fund.
(A)(1) For purposes of this section:
(a) “Statewide candidate” means the joint candidates for the offices of governor and lieutenant governor or a candidate for the office of secretary of state, auditor of state, treasurer of state, attorney general, or member of the state board of education.
(b)(i) “Personal funds” means contributions to the campaign committee of a candidate by the candidate or by the candidate’s spouse, parents, children, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, brothers, sisters, grandparents, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, or grandparents by marriage.
(ii) A loan obtained by, guaranteed by, or for the benefit of a statewide candidate, senate candidate, or house candidate shall be considered “personal funds” subject to the provisions of this section and section 3517.1010 of the Revised Code to the extent that the loan is obtained or guaranteed by the candidate or is for the benefit of the candidate and is obtained or guaranteed by the candidate’s spouse, parents, children, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, brothers, sisters, grandparents, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, or grandparents by marriage. A loan that is obtained or guaranteed and that is for the benefit of a statewide candidate, senate candidate, or house candidate shall not be considered “personal funds” for the purposes of this section and section 3517.1010 of the Revised Code but shall be considered to be a “contribution” for the purposes of this chapter if the loan is obtained or guaranteed by anyone other than the candidate or the candidate’s spouse, parents, children, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, brothers, sisters, grandparents, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, or grandparents by marriage.
(iii) When a debt or other obligation incurred by a committee or by a candidate on behalf of the candidate’s committee described in division (C)(1) or (2) of this section is to be paid from “personal funds,” those funds are considered to be expended when the debt or other obligation is incurred, regardless of when it is paid.
(2) For purposes of this chapter, a candidate is an “opponent” when the candidate has indicated on the candidate’s most recently filed designation of treasurer that the candidate seeks the same office at the same primary or general election as another candidate whose campaign committee has filed a personal funds notice required by division (C)(1) or (2) of this section.
(B)(1) Except as otherwise provided in division (B)(2) of this section, no statewide candidate or candidate for the office of member of the general assembly shall make an expenditure of personal funds to influence the results of an election for that candidate’s nomination or election to office unless the personal funds are first deposited into the campaign fund of that candidate’s campaign committee.
(2) A statewide candidate or candidate for the office of member of the general assembly may make an expenditure of personal funds without first depositing those funds into the campaign committee’s funds as long as the aggregate total of those expenditures does not exceed five hundred dollars at any time during an election period. After the candidate’s campaign committee reimburses the candidate for any direct expenditure of personal funds, the amount that was reimbursed is no longer included in the aggregate total of expenditures of personal funds subject to the five-hundred-dollar limit.
(C)(1) If the campaign committee of any statewide candidate has received or expended or expects to expend more than one hundred thousand dollars of personal funds during a primary election period or one hundred fifty thousand dollars of personal funds during a general election period, the campaign committee shall file a personal funds notice in the manner provided in division (C)(3) of this section indicating that the committee has received or expended or expects to expend more than that amount. For the purpose of this division, a joint team of candidates for governor and lieutenant governor shall be considered a single candidate and their personal funds shall be combined.
(2) If the campaign committee of any senate candidate or house candidate has received or expended or expects to expend more than twenty-five thousand dollars of personal funds during a primary election period or twenty-five thousand dollars of personal funds during a general election period, the campaign committee shall file a personal funds notice in the manner provided in division (C)(3) of this section indicating that the committee has received or expended or expects to expend more than that amount.
(3) The personal funds notice required in divisions (C)(1) and (2) of this section and the declaration of no limits required under division (D)(2) of this section shall be on a form prescribed by the secretary of state. The personal funds notice required in divisions (C)(1) and (2) of this section shall be filed not later than the earlier of the following times:
(a) One hundred twenty days before a primary election, in the case of personal funds received, expended, or expected to be expended during a primary election period, or not later than one hundred twenty days before a general election, in the case of personal funds received, expended, or expected to be expended during a general election period;
(b) Two business days after the candidate’s campaign committee receives or makes an expenditure of personal funds or the candidate makes an expenditure of personal funds on behalf of the candidate’s campaign committee during that election period that exceed, in the aggregate, the amount specified in division (C)(1) or (2) of this section.
The personal funds notice required under divisions (C)(1) and (2) of this section and the declaration of no limits required under division (D)(2) of this section shall be filed wherever the campaign committee files statements of contributions and expenditures under section 3517.11 of the Revised Code. The board of elections shall send to the secretary of state a copy of any personal funds notice or declaration of no limits filed by the campaign committee of a senate candidate or house candidate under division (C)(3) or (D)(2) of this section.
(D)(1) Whenever a campaign committee files a notice under division (C)(1) or (2) of this section, and the campaign committee of an opponent files a declaration of no limits pursuant to division (D)(2) of this section within thirty days of the filing of the personal funds notice under division (C)(1) or (2) of this section, the contribution limitations prescribed in section 3517.102 of the Revised Code no longer apply to the campaign committee of the candidate’s opponent.
(2) No campaign committee of a candidate described in division (D)(1) of this section shall accept any contribution or contributions from a contributor that exceed the limitations prescribed in section 3517.102 of the Revised Code until the committee files a declaration that the committee will accept contributions that exceed those limitations. This declaration shall be filed not later than thirty days after a candidate’s opponent has filed a personal funds notice pursuant to division (C)(1) or (2) of section 3517.103 of the Revised Code, shall be referred to as the “declaration of no limits,” and shall list all of the following:
(a) The amount of cash on hand in the candidate’s campaign fund at the end of the day immediately preceding the day on which the candidate’s campaign committee files the declaration of no limits;
(b) The value and description of all campaign assets worth five hundred dollars or more available to the candidate at the end of the day immediately preceding the day on which the candidate’s campaign committee files the declaration of no limits.
(3) A candidate who was not an opponent of a candidate who filed the personal funds notice required under division (C)(3) of this section on the date the personal funds notice was filed may file the declaration of no limits pursuant to division (D)(2) of this section within thirty days after becoming an opponent of the candidate who filed the personal funds notice.
(4) If the candidate whose campaign committee filed a personal funds notice under division (C)(1) or (2) of this section fails to file a declaration of candidacy for the office listed on the designation of treasurer filed under division (D) of section 3517.10 of the Revised Code or files a declaration of candidacy or nominating petition for that office and dies or withdraws, both of the following apply to the campaign committee of that candidate’s opponent if the opponent has filed a declaration of no limits pursuant to division (D) of this section:
(a) No contribution from a contributor may thereafter be accepted that, when added to the aggregate total of all contributions received by that committee from that contributor during the primary election period or general election period, whichever is applicable, would cause that committee to exceed the contribution limitations prescribed in section 3517.102 of the Revised Code for the applicable election period.
(b) The statement of primary-day finances or the year-end statement required to be filed under division (E) of section 3517.1010 of the Revised Code shall be filed not later than fourteen days after the date the candidate’s opponent fails to file a declaration of candidacy or nominating petition by the appropriate filing deadline, or dies or withdraws. For purposes of calculating permitted funds under division (A) (4) of section 3517.1010 of the Revised Code, the primary or general election period, whichever is applicable, shall be considered to have ended on the filing deadline, in the case of an opponent who fails to file a declaration of candidacy or nominating petition, or on the date of the opponent’s death or withdrawal. In such an event, the filing of a statement of primary-day finances or year-end finances and the disposing of any excess funds as required under division (B) of section 3517.1010 of the Revised Code satisfies the candidate’s obligation to file such a statement for that election period.
(E)(1) No campaign committee shall fail to file a personal funds notice as required under division (C)(1) or (2) of this section.
(2) No campaign committee shall accept any contribution in excess of the contribution limitations prescribed in section 3517.102 of the Revised Code:
(a) Unless a declaration of no limits has been filed under division (D)(2) of this section;
(b) In violation of division (D)(4) of this section once the candidate who filed a personal funds notice under division (C)(3) of this section fails to file a declaration of candidacy or nominating petition or that candidate dies or withdraws.
(3) No campaign committee that violates division (E)(1) of this section shall expend any personal funds in excess of the amount specified in division (C)(1) or (2) of this section, whichever is appropriate to the committee.
(4) The candidate of any campaign committee that violates division (E) of this section shall forfeit the candidate’s nomination, if the candidate was nominated, or the office to which the candidate was elected, if the candidate was elected to office.
(F)(1) Whenever a campaign committee files a notice under division (C)(1) or (2) of this section or whenever the contribution limitations prescribed in section 3517.102 of the Revised Code do not apply to a campaign committee under division (D)(1) of this section, that committee is not a designated state campaign committee for the purpose of the limitations prescribed in section 3517.102 of the Revised Code with regard to contributions made by that campaign committee to a legislative campaign fund or to a state candidate fund of a state or county political party.
(2) Division (F)(1) of this section no longer applies to a campaign committee after both of the following occur:
(a) The primary or general election period during which the contribution limitations prescribed in section 3517.102 of the Revised Code did not apply after being removed pursuant to division (D) of this section has expired;
(b) When the campaign committee has disposed of all excess funds and excess aggregate contributions as required under section 3517.1010 of the Revised Code.
Effective Date: 12-22-1999; 03-31-2005
From the Ohio Secretary of State’s website: On August 26, 2009, United States District Court Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr., issued a permanent injunction enjoining the Ohio Secretary of State and the Ohio Elections Commission “from enforcing subsections (C), (D), (E), and (F) of Ohio Revised Code Section 3517.103 against any present or future candidate for statewide office.” The Court’s order held that those sections of the law were “indistinguishable from the federal statute struck down by the [United States] Supreme Court in Davis [v. Fed. Election Commission, 128 S.Ct. 2759 (2008)]” and were therefore unconstitutional.