Contribution Limits

What is a Contributor?

A contributor may be an individual, a corporation, limited liability company (LLC/PLLC), another candidate's political committee, an unincorporated union or trade organization, a PAC or any other entity such as a League or association, etc. Please note: the funds of a candidate and the spouse of the candidate spent on the campaign are not contributions and are not subject to limits. However, they must be reported on disclosure reports.

Sole proprietors' contributions are from the owner and must be listed as such.

Partnership contributions are contributions from the partners individually, but they are not listed individually until the partnership contribution exceeds $2500. Once that threshold is crossed, the filer must also attribute the contribution to the individual partner(s) on Schedule O.

With no other information available, checks drawn on a joint account are assumed given by the signatory.

The New York State Election Law places aggregate calendar year limits on the amount of political contributions that can be made by corporations, LLCs, and PLLCs to New York State candidates and committees, as follows:

  1. Corporations
    • A corporation may contribute up to a total of $5,000 in a calendar year.
    • Each affiliated or subsidiary corporation, if a separate legal entity, has its own limit.
    • The $5,000 aggregate limit does not apply to funds given to housekeeping, independent expenditure, or ballot proposition committees.
  2. LLCs/PLLCs (effective for contributions dated on or after January 31, 2019)
    • An LLC/PLLC may contribute up to a total $5,000 in a calendar year.
    • All contributions made to a campaign or political committee by an LLC/PLLC shall be attributed to each member of the LLC/PLLC in proportion to the member's ownership interest in the company. Attribution is required from the first dollar, and this is disclosed on Schedule O.
    • By December 31st of any year in which an LLC/PLLC makes a contribution or expenditure, the LLC/PLLC must file with the New York State Board of Elections a statement of identity of all direct and indirect owners of the membership interests in the company and the proportion of each direct or indirect member's ownership interest.
    • The $5,000 aggregate limit does not apply to funds given to housekeeping, independent expenditure, or ballot proposition committees.

Notwithstanding the above, no individual, corporation, or other contributor may give more to a candidate or a candidate's authorized political committee(s) than an amount determined under the law for the office sought by the candidate. This is called the election limit. This amount is the maximum that the candidate may receive from any one contributor during the campaign cycle for the particular election.

For some offices, the law requires a formula be used to determine the limit. In those cases, you should contact the applicable board of elections to find out the limits.

Visit the NYS Board of Elections for more details!