The coming special election to fill the D.C. Council seat of Mayor-elect Muriel Bowser will be the first to test restrictive new campaign finance laws passed by D.C. officials last year.
The D.C. Council adopted regulations that take effect Feb. 1 and include new disclosure requirements and limitations on donations from affiliated businesses as a means to increase transparency and accountability in campaign finance. The most lauded change in the law closes the District’s so-called “LLC loophole” by restricting campaign donations from affiliated companies, including limited liability corporations.
Business owners traditionally could skirt the city’s maximum campaign contribution limits by donating multiple times to a candidate through different LLCs, which were not recognized as being affiliated even when they were owned or operated by the same people.
But because the upcoming Ward 4 special election is unlikely to take place until April or May, campaigns will straddle the change in law — raising the question of whether candidates will follow the new regulations from their start or only after the policy becomes official.
Anyone who registers a campaign ahead of the change would still legally be able to collect donations from related LLCs until Feb. 1, said Wesley Williams, spokesman for the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance. All other changes in law, including requirements that campaign treasurers take finance training and that all finance reports be filed online, would similarly only apply to campaigns beginning Feb. 1.
It’s unclear exactly how soon interested candidates would be able to officially register their campaigns. Tuesday’s election results will be certified on Dec. 3, and after that, the D.C. Board of Elections will need to publish official notice of the Ward 4 election in the D.C. Register before candidates can pick up nominating petitions, board spokeswoman Denise Tolliver said.
A.J. Cooper, an eager Ward 4 candidate who held a campaign kickoff over the weekend, has pledged not to accept any “corporate, PAC or out of state LLC contributions.”
But others, like Robert White, are still gauging their interest in running for the seat, let alone which set of rules they would follow before Feb. 1.
“It’s not something I gave any real thought to, so it’s a lot to digest very quickly,” said Mr. White, who came in fourth in Tuesday’s election for two at-large council members.
His at-large campaign did accept donations from LLCs and businesses, according to campaign finance records.
“It’ll be a very interesting race, both from the fundraising standpoint and how crowded it gets,” Mr. White said.
Ward 4 races have been packed in the past. Ms. Bowser bested 18 other candidates when she won her seat in a special election in 2007. She was propelled to victory by the endorsement of her predecessor Adrian M. Fenty, who left his seat when he was elected mayor.
Asked Friday about whether she would lend support to any potential candidates in the election, Ms. Bowser demurred.
“I am the Ward 4 council member until I am not the Ward 4 council member,” Ms. Bowser said on the WAMU-FM Radio’s “Politics Hour.” “I imagine I will have something to say about all of the candidates.”
Note: An earlier version of this report said the Board of Elections would certify the results of the mayoral election on Nov. 20. The board has since updated that information, saying the election will be certified on Dec. 3. The change has been made in the story.
• Andrea Noble can be reached at anoble@washingtontimes.com.
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