Former Vice President Mike Pence sought public funding for his failed presidential primary campaign, but if successful, he would was a highly unusual move, making him the first Republican to receive such funding in more than a decade. .
Since the post-Watergate era, the federal government has allowed presidential candidates to apply for and receive public funds. But at a time when national campaign costs are soaring, the program’s strict spending limits on participants have made it largely obsolete.
The program’s limitations are so onerous that applying for money itself is generally seen as a sign of desperation.
Pence served as former President Donald J. Trump’s running mate in 2016 and 2020 and challenged the president last year, but has struggled to gain an early lead in the 2024 Republican campaign.
Mr. Pence, who campaigned as a veteran Republican alter ego and warned that Mr. Trump’s populism was a “road to destruction,” raised about $5.3 million last year but failed to gain significant support in opinion polls. , withdrew in the face of an election campaign in late October. He may not be eligible to participate in another debate.
Pence’s campaign committee had more than $1.3 million in unpaid debts at the end of March, federal records show. Eligible for public funding now would likely help pay off these bills.
A spokesman for Mr. Pence did not respond to a request for comment. It’s unclear why Mr. Pence’s request for public funds last fall has not yet been implemented. On Tuesday, the Federal Election Commission released a suitability report on the request from the audit division and a memorandum from the Office of General Counsel on the matter. Discussion is on the agenda at Thursday’s committee meeting.
There are strict limits to qualify for the public loan program, including raising $5,000 in at least 20 different states. The candidate herself must not spend more than her $50,000 of her own money.
Notably, Pence originally set aside $150,000 in campaign funds for July 2023, but records show he released $100,000 of that on October 3, just weeks before withdrawing. This means that the money was refunded. The move could make him eligible for public funding, but it also indicates he may have been considering withdrawing from the race in the weeks before his resignation. FEC documents posted Tuesday suggest he applied for public funds on Oct. 12.
In a sign of the program’s growing importance, not a single Democrat or Republican took advantage of it in 2020.
The last major party candidate to use the program in a primary was former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who ran for president as a Democrat in 2016 and received just over $1 million in public funding. The last major party candidate to receive matching funds in a general election was John McCain in the 2008 Republican campaign.
Barack Obama’s decision to opt out of public financing during the 2008 campaign is widely seen as an end to the functional purpose of the campaign’s program.
