National Republican Senatorial Committee v. Federal Election Comm’n · ¶125

Before today, the answer was: Many things, but very little to pay John Smith’s campaign bills. Campaign finance law limits to a bare minimum ($5,000 per election) the amount a party can simply give to a candidate, so direct transfers are not an option. See §30116(a)(2). Similarly, the caps on coordinated expenditures are set so low in comparison with a campaign’s total expenses as to make that spending stream inconsequential. See supra, at 7; Brief for Federal Respondents 21 (noting, for example, that party- coordinated expenditures in House races have never exceeded 1% of total campaign spending). That means the overwhelming majority of the contributions the John Smith Victory Fund collects—again, before today’s decision—will go to party spending that only incidentally (even if meaningfully) benefits the candidate. The money may be spent, for example, on improving get-out-the-vote…

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