FEC declares Pence eligible to receive 2024 matching funds, approves initial date of ineligibility

WASHINGTON – At its open meeting yesterday, the Federal Election Commission declared Mike Pence and his principal campaign committee, Mike Pence for President (MPFP), eligible to receive public matching funds for Pence’s 2024 presidential campaign for the Republican Party nomination. Additionally, since Pence suspended his campaign for the nomination in October 2023, the Commission also initially determined that Pence’s Date of Ineligibility for the purpose of using public funds to seek the Republican presidential nomination is the date of the suspension.

To become eligible for matching funds, candidates must raise a threshold amount of $100,000 by collecting $5,000 in 20 different states. Although an individual may contribute up to $3,300 to a primary candidate in the current election cycle, only a maximum of $250 per individual applies toward the $5,000 threshold in each state.

Other requirements to be declared eligible include agreeing to an overall spending limit, abiding by spending limits in each state, using public funds only for legitimate campaign-related expenses, keeping financial records, and permitting an extensive campaign audit. Participation in the presidential public funding program is entirely voluntary and presidential candidates may opt not to participate.

With the Commission’s determination of Pence’s eligibility, he becomes the first 2024 presidential candidate to be declared eligible for public funding and the first since the 2016 election cycle, when two candidates qualified for and received matching funds. No candidates were approved for matching funds during the 2020 election.

Based on documents filed by MPFP in late 2023, contributions were verified for threshold purposes from Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Virginia.

All of the materials included with this submission may be viewed here. Based on Pence’s initial threshold submission, the Commission voted to request that the United States Treasury make an initial payment of $100,000 to Pence’s campaign.

The Commission also made an initial determination that Pence’s Date of Ineligibility (DOI) for his campaign was October 28, 2023, when Pence publicly announced that he was suspending his campaign for President. Commission regulations provide that even if presidential primary candidates no longer campaign actively in primary elections, they may continue to request public funds to pay off campaign debts until the first Monday of March of the year following an election.

The Commission will officially notify Pence and MPFP of the Commission’s initial determination of the DOI by letter containing the legal and factual reasons for the initial determination and providing an opportunity for Pence and MPFP to respond to the initial DOI determination. The Commission will consider any timely submitted response from Pence and MPFP in the course of making a final determination.

The presidential public funding program is financed through the $3 check-off that appears on individual income tax returns. The program has two elements: matching payments to participating candidates during the primary campaign and grants available to nominees to pay for the general election campaign.

Additional information about the presidential public funding program is available here. Income tax check-off data showing monthly deposits into the program’s fund is available here.