The nearly three dozen District residents who are considering a run for the Ward 4 and Ward 7 D.C. Council seats will not be allowed to raise unlimited contributions from anonymous donors — at least not anymore, the council decided Tuesday.
Legislators enacted an emergency bill that will force explorers, those people who are only “testing the waters” for a run, to abide by existing campaign finance laws, including the $500contribution limit and reporting requirements.
“I strongly feel that these exploratory committees should be just that — exploratory,” said Council Member Carol Schwartz, who co-introduced the bill with Phil Mendelson. “I am concerned, as are many other people, that under the law as it is now, these committees are often just campaign committees in disguise, and that needs to change.”
But the bill might have negligible impact, despite 35 or more possible candidates in both races.
The legislation, patterned off a similar bill initiated during the mayoral campaign, took effect immediately but is not retroactive. Any cash raised over the last several months by explorers such as Michael Brown and Renee Bowser in Ward 4 will remain unreported, with the donors unnamed.
The two council seats, once held by Mayor Adrian Fenty and Council Chair Vincent Gray, were certified vacant earlier this month, with a special election slated for May 1. Many explorers have already declared their candidacy and will be unaffected by the law.
Brown, a former Democratic candidate for mayor who dropped out days before the primary, is not expected to reveal his exploratory contributors.
“I will do whatever the law at the time provides,” Brown said Wednesday.
Fenty is supporting Muriel Bowser for the Ward 4 seat.
The one part of the bill that is retroactive, back to June 2, 2006, bans so-called “double-dipping.” Declared council candidates will not be allowed to return to exploratory donors who already contributed the maximum $500.
