Filing Your Campaign Treasurer

Before accepting contributions or making expenditures, you should file a campaign treasurer. By statute, after you raise or spend $500, you must have a campaign treasurer on file. You can do this at any time. You should contact the Texas Ethics Commission for any rules and laws regarding donations, expenditures, reporting, and other items.

- Some FAQs about Campaign Finance -

When can I file my campaign treasurer?

Anytime! And this should be the first thing you do if you plan on running for office.

-If you're running at the County Level (Justice of the Peace, District and County Clerk, County Court at Law, County Judge, Commissioners), in that case, you will file your campaign treasurer report with the Denton County Elections Department.

-If you're running for a State level office (State District Judge, State Representative, State Senator), you will file with the Texas Ethics Commission.

-For federal candidates, you will need to contact the Federal Election Commission.

Can I be my own Treasurer?

Yes

Do I have to open a new bank account?

Yes! By statute, you must keep any political money separate from your personal or business bank accounts. Because of this, you will have to create an EIN number with the IRS to open an account.

Are there campaign contribution limits?

There are no campaign contribution limits except for federal and judicial candidates (for which you should contact the Texas Ethics Commission or the Federal Election Commission).

Also, you cannot accept any corporate donations (PC and LLCs are fine as long as they are not an IRS-recognized corporation)

What form do I use to file my treasurer's report?

Click this link from the Texas Ethics Commission for all the forms.