A little more than a year before Florida’s 2014 gubernatorial election takes place; campaign contributors are now able to reach deeper into their pockets to support their favorite candidates.
Campaign finance reforms easily passed Florida’s 2013 legislative session. The rules dismantled lawmaker slush funds called Committees of Continuing Existence and increased individual contribution limits for statewide candidates to 3-thousand dollars per donor.. The rationale behind the move was that increasing the contribution limit would give politicians more control than political action committees over their message. But, University of South Florida Political Scientist Susan MacManus noted that giving to Super PACs still allows unfettered political spending, so the Florida change means very little.
“You know, they can give a lot more than just this if they want to. That’s the issue you know, even beyond this increase, they can give as much as they want other places,” MacManus said.
Still, MacManus also said the effects of campaign finance changes won’t be known until after next year’s elections.