Nearly $100 million in campaign cash sits idle
As Sen. Evan Bayh prepared to quit Congress, he called on all Americans to embrace a “spirit of devotion to the national welfare beyond party or self-interest” and declared his “passion for service to our fellow citizens is undiminished.”
Four years later, the Indiana Democrat controls nearly $10 million in surplus campaign cash he could, by law, invest in charities — something other former politicos have done.
Instead, his old campaign money generates thousands of dollars in interest each week while sitting in a Raymond James & Associates investment account.
Bayh, in this regard, is hardly alone.
Nine former congressional members and congressional candidates who are no longer seeking federal office each retain $1 million or more in leftover campaign cash, a Center for Public Integrity analysis of federal campaign finance disclosures and Center for Responsive Politics data indicates.
Related: Ex-congressmen with at least $1 million left
Dozens of other former members and congressional also-rans, both Democrats and Republicans, are squatting on six-figure surpluses.
The former congressional candidates have several options for their accumulated campaign cash, and no law requires them to divest of this money or even close down their committees.
But their collective hoard is now approaching $100 million at a time when numerous charitable organizations could surely use some of it.
For example, a fraction of that amount — $1 million — could feed 12,000 Syrian refugees for a month, by Oxfam America’s estimate.
“Fairly transformative” is how Janet Baker, vice president of development for Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, described what $1 million from Bayh or any other former politico could do for her $3.5 million-per-year charity that spruces up neighborhoods, plants trees and runs youth programs
Related: Evan Bayh's multi-million-dollar head start?
There’s more to this story. Click here to read the rest at the Center for Public Integrity.
This story is part of Consider the Source. Seeking to ‘out’ shadowy political organizations flourishing in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling. Click here to read more stories in this investigation.
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Copyright 2014 The Center for Public Integrity. This story was published by The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C.
