Deciding Whether to Become a Candidate
March 9, 2015
Before deciding to campaign for federal office, potential candidates may want to “test the waters”—in other words, explore the feasibility of their candidacy. Individuals who merely test the waters, but do not campaign for office, do not have to register or report with the FEC even if they raise more than $5,000—the dollar threshold that would normally trigger registration. Nevertheless, funds raised to test the waters are subject to the federal law's contribution limitations and prohibitions, and must be disclosed when the individual becomes a candidate. For more information, please review our Testing the Waters FAQs [ HTML] [PDF] and e-learning video.