Deciding Whether to Become a Candidate?

Before deciding to campaign for federal office, an individual may want to “test the waters”—in other words, explore the feasibility of becoming a candidate. An individual who merely test the waters, but does not campaign for office, does not have to register or report as a candidate even if the individual raises more than $5,000—the dollar threshold that would normally trigger registration. Nevertheless, funds raised to test the waters are subject to the Federal Election Campaign Act’s (the Act) contribution limitations and prohibitions. For more information, see this article: [ HTML] [PDF].