What is a Candidate Committee?

Candidate committees accept contributions and make expenditures under the candidate’s authority to further their bid for election or re-election to public office.

A candidate can be the only committee member.

A candidate can only have one candidate committee

Do Candidate Committees have to register?

Candidate committees must be registered before accepting contributions. No candidate may accept a contribution until he or she has a candidate committee registered.

Note:  a candidate for governor and a candidate for lieutenant governor can have only one committee between them; they cannot maintain separate candidate committees.

How do I register a Candidate Committee with your office?

You must register a committee online.   

Before registering, make sure that you have:

• A committee name and any acronyms that you will use.
• A registered agent.
• The registered agent's email address and phone number.
• Physical and mailing addresses for the committee's principal place of business.
• A description of your committee's purpose.  This information should be detailed, including candidates, ballot measure numbers, or policy positions that you will support or oppose.
• Financial information, including the name of the bank where the committee has or will have an account.

To register:

1. Go to the TRACER campaign finance disclosure website.
2. Click on the "Committee Registration" button.
3. Select "Candidate Committee", then click on "Next".
4. Fill out the form.  When you are finished, click on "Submit".
5. Print a copy of the form for your records.
6. Click on "Finished" to complete your registration.
7. Login information will be sent to the registered agent's email address.

If you need help using TRACER, see Learn to Use TRACER.