With six weeks until the first 2024 Republican presidential debate, some hopefuls are finding creative ways to boost their donor numbers and ensure they make it on stage.
Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy rolled out a plan to let people who raise money for his campaign keep 10% of what they take in from other donors. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum is offering $20 Mastercard or Visa gift cards in return for campaign donations of as little as $1. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez put up a chance to see Argentine soccer legend Lionel Messi’s Miami debut.
The unusual efforts are in response to a Republican National Committee requirement that candidates raise money from at least 40,000 donors across the country to be able to participate in the Aug. 23 debate in Milwaukee. That’s a tall task for some of the hopefuls who aren’t as well known as former President Donald Trump or Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
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It’s a recognition of the make-it-or-break-it opportunity that the debate stage provides for lower-tier candidates in a large field who need media exposure to reach voters.
Dan Weiner, an attorney who directs the Brennan Center for Justice’s Elections and Government Program, said “unorthodox fundraising” tactics are becoming more common, noting candidates are trying new things with the knowledge that the Federal Election Commission could take action if legal or ethical concerns are raised.
“More often than not, these do at least sometimes raise questions about whether they’re skirting at the edge of the law,” Weiner said, speaking of Ramaswamy and Burgum’s proposals. “In both instances, do I necessarily think that the FEC is going to do anything about it? Maybe, but I’d be a little bit skeptical.”
Ramaswamy — who launched his campaign with a $10 million infusion of his own cash and said he surpassed the unique donor threshold in June — last week introduced the “Vivek Kitchen Cabinet,” a plan that he said would “democratize” the fundraising process by letting fundraisers keep 10% of what they bring in for him.
“Why should it be some member of some managerial class that’s a secreted, closeted group of fundraisers, in the cloistered world of politics?” he asked in a video posted on Twitter. “It shouldn’t be.”
As of July 11, Ramaswamy’s campaign said more than 1,000 people signed up for the program, which hires people as independent contractors subject to compliance with FEC regulations, according to the campaign’s website.
Burgum, a wealthy former software entrepreneur now in his second term as North Dakota’s governor, announced a program to give away gift cards — “Biden Relief Cards,” as a critique of President Joe Biden’s handling of the economy — to as many as 50,000 people.
Campaign spokesperson Lance Trover said the effort “allows us to secure a spot on the debate stage while avoiding paying more advertising fees to social media platforms who have owners that are hostile to conservatives.”
Paul S. Ryan, a campaign finance attorney who worked for nonprofit watchdog groups like Common Cause, said Burgum’s reimbursement framework seems to be a clear violation of campaign finance law.
“Burgum’s contributing to his own campaign using the names of the people who opt into his gift card scheme,” Ryan said. “All of these gift card recipients are straw donors.”
The campaign said its legal advisers reviewed and approved the fundraising mechanism. The FEC said Friday it wouldn’t comment on the legality of Burgum’s plan.
Businessman Perry Johnson, a wealthy but largely unknown businessman from Michigan, announced last month that he would give copies of his book “Two Cents to Save America” — which retails for $20 — to anyone who donated to his campaign.
During a Sunday speech at Turning Point Action’s annual gathering in West Palm Beach, Florida, Suarez asked attendees to “consider making a $1 donation” to get him on the debate stage, saying all such donors would be entered in a chance to be in the front row for Messi’s first game Friday as a player for Inter Miami.
Gift cards and other giveaways have been used by campaigns before.
In the 2020 presidential election cycle, Democratic presidential hopeful and tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang said he would give a “freedom dividend” of $1,000 a month for a year to 10 American families, a key tenet of his universal basic income proposal.
In 2014, Republican Bruce Rauner’s campaign handed out thousands of prepaid Visa gift cards to volunteers helping to round up support for his successful Illinois gubernatorial campaign. Many of Rauner’s advisers are now running Burgum’s campaign.
Republican candidates must meet other requirements to quality for the party’s first 2024 debate. They must earn at least 1% in three high-quality national polls, or a mix of national and early-state polls, between July 1 and Aug. 21. They must sign a pledge backing the eventual 2024 Republican nominee.
They also must agree not to participate in any non-RNC sanctioned debate for the remainder of the election cycle, which includes the traditional general election debates hosted by the Commission on Presidential Debates.
Weiner predicted campaign tactics would become more innovative as the 2024 election grows closer and debate thresholds become steeper.
