Michael Toner Comments on Campaign Debt

Michael Toner, co-chair of the Election Law & Government Ethics Practice, was interviewed by Bloomberg Businessweek for a story on the financial implications of ending a presidential campaign. Following Rick Santorum’s announcement that he was suspending his bid for the White House, the former Pennsylvania senator placed his campaign debt at less than $1 million. 

Bloomberg reported that ending a presidential campaign “can be a nightmare that lasts years.  There are employees, consultants, lawyers, and ad makers clamoring to be paid … before the Federal Election Commission (FEC) will certify that a campaign is officially over.”  The article added that attempts to raise money to close the debt is not easy.  “Debt retirement money is the hardest kind of money in politics to raise,” said Mr. Toner, a former chairman of the FEC.