2016 Connecticut General Statutes 9-705 – Grants for primary and general election campaigns. Supplemental grants for petitioning and minor party candidates
(a)(1) The qualified candidate committee of a major party candidate for the office of Governor who has a primary for nomination to said office shall be eligible to receive a grant from the Citizens’ Election Fund for the primary campaign in the amount of one million two hundred fifty thousand dollars, provided, in the case of a primary held in 2014, or thereafter, said amount shall be adjusted under subsection (d) of this section.
(2) The qualified candidate committee of a candidate for the office of Governor who has been nominated, or who has qualified to appear on the election ballot in accordance with the provisions of subpart C of part III of chapter 153, shall be eligible to receive a grant from the fund for the general election campaign in the amount of six million dollars, provided in the case of an election held in 2014, or thereafter, said amount shall be adjusted under subsection (d) of this section.
(b) (1) The qualified candidate committee of a major party candidate for the office of Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, State Comptroller, Secretary of the State or State Treasurer who has a primary for nomination to said office shall be eligible to receive a grant from the fund for the primary campaign in the amount of three hundred seventy-five thousand dollars, provided, in the case of a primary held in 2014, or thereafter, said amount shall be adjusted under subsection (d) of this section.
(2) The qualified candidate committee of a candidate for the office of Attorney General, State Comptroller, Secretary of the State or State Treasurer who has been nominated, or who has qualified to appear on the election ballot in accordance with the provisions of subpart C of part III of chapter 153, shall be eligible to receive a grant from the fund for the general election campaign in the amount of seven hundred fifty thousand dollars, provided in the case of an election held in 2014, or thereafter, said amount shall be adjusted under subsection (d) of this section.
(c) (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a) and (b) of this section, the qualified candidate committee of an eligible minor party candidate for the office of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, State Comptroller, Secretary of the State or State Treasurer shall be eligible to receive a grant from the fund for the general election campaign if the candidate of the same minor party for the same office at the last preceding regular election received at least ten per cent of the whole number of votes cast for all candidates for said office at said election. The amount of the grant shall be one-third of the amount of the general election campaign grant under subsection (a) or (b) of this section for a candidate for the same office, provided (A) if the candidate of the same minor party for the same office at the last preceding regular election received at least fifteen per cent of the whole number of votes cast for all candidates for said office at said election, the amount of the grant shall be two-thirds of the amount of the general election campaign grant under subsection (a) or (b) of this section for a candidate for the same office, (B) if the candidate of the same minor party for the same office at the last preceding regular election received at least twenty per cent of the whole number of votes cast for all candidates for said office at said election, the amount of the grant shall be the same as the amount of the general election campaign grant under subsection (a) or (b) of this section for a candidate for the same office, and (C) in the case of an election held in 2014, or thereafter, said amounts shall be adjusted under subsection (d) of this section.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a) and (b) of this section, the qualified candidate committee of an eligible petitioning party candidate for the office of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, State Comptroller, Secretary of the State or State Treasurer shall be eligible to receive a grant from the fund for the general election campaign if said candidate’s nominating petition has been signed by a number of qualified electors equal to at least ten per cent of the whole number of votes cast for the same office at the last preceding regular election. The amount of the grant shall be one-third of the amount of the general election campaign grant under subsection (a) or (b) of this section for a candidate for the same office, provided (A) if said candidate’s nominating petition has been signed by a number of qualified electors equal to at least fifteen per cent of the whole number of votes cast for the same office at the last preceding regular election, the amount of the grant shall be two-thirds of the amount of the general election campaign grant under subsection (a) or (b) of this section for a candidate for the same office, (B) if said candidate’s nominating petition has been signed by a number of qualified electors equal to at least twenty per cent of the whole number of votes cast for the same office at the last preceding regular election, the amount of the grant shall be the same as the amount of the general election campaign grant under subsection (a) or (b) of this section for a candidate for the same office, and (C) in the case of an election held in 2014, or thereafter, said amounts shall be adjusted under subsection (d) of this section.
(3) In addition to the provisions of subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection, the qualified candidate committee of an eligible petitioning party candidate and the qualified candidate committee of an eligible minor party candidate for the office of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, State Comptroller, Secretary of the State or State Treasurer shall be eligible to receive a supplemental grant from the fund after the general election if the treasurer of such candidate committee reports a deficit in the first statement filed after the general election, pursuant to section 9-608, and such candidate received a greater percentage of the whole number of votes cast for all candidates for said office at said election than the percentage of votes utilized by such candidate to obtain a general election campaign grant described in subdivision (1) or (2) of this subsection. The amount of such supplemental grant shall be calculated as follows:
(A) In the case of any such candidate who receives more than ten per cent, but not more than fifteen per cent, of the whole number of votes cast for all candidates for said office at said election, the grant shall be the product of (i) a fraction in which the numerator is the difference between the percentage of such whole number of votes received by such candidate and ten per cent and the denominator is ten, and (ii) two-thirds of the amount of the general election campaign grant under subsection (a) or (b) of this section for a major party candidate for the same office.
(B) In the case of any such candidate who receives more than fifteen per cent, but less than twenty per cent, of the whole number of votes cast for all candidates for said office at said election, the grant shall be the product of (i) a fraction in which the numerator is the difference between the percentage of such whole number of votes received by such candidate and fifteen per cent and the denominator is five, and (ii) one-third of the amount of the general election campaign grant under subsection (a) or (b) of this section for a major party candidate for the same office.
(C) The sum of the general election campaign grant received by any such candidate and a supplemental grant under this subdivision shall not exceed one hundred per cent of the amount of the general election campaign grant under subsection (a) or (b) of this section for a major party candidate for the same office.
(d) For elections held in 2014, and thereafter, the amount of the grants in subsections (a), (b) and (c) of this section shall be adjusted by the State Elections Enforcement Commission not later than January 15, 2014, and quadrennially thereafter, in accordance with any change in the consumer price index for all urban consumers as published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, during the period beginning on January 1, 2010, and ending on December thirty-first in the year preceding the year in which said adjustment is to be made.
(e) (1) The qualified candidate committee of a major party candidate for the office of state senator who has a primary for nomination to said office shall be eligible to receive a grant from the fund for the primary campaign in the amount of thirty-five thousand dollars, provided (A) if the percentage of the electors in the district served by said office who are enrolled in said major party exceeds the percentage of the electors in said district who are enrolled in another major party by at least twenty percentage points, the amount of said grant shall be seventy-five thousand dollars, and (B) in the case of a primary held in 2010, or thereafter, said amounts shall be adjusted under subsection (h) of this section. For the purposes of subparagraph (A) of this subdivision, the number of enrolled members of a major party and the number of electors in a district shall be determined by the latest enrollment and voter registration records in the office of the Secretary of the State submitted in accordance with the provisions of section 9-65. The names of electors on the inactive registry list compiled under section 9-35 shall not be counted for such purposes.
(2) The qualified candidate committee of a candidate for the office of state senator who has been nominated, or has qualified to appear on the election ballot in accordance with subpart C of part III of chapter 153, shall be eligible to receive a grant from the fund for the general election campaign in the amount of eighty-five thousand dollars, provided in the case of an election held in 2010, or thereafter, said amount shall be adjusted under subsection (h) of this section.
(3) (A) In the case of an adjourned primary pursuant to section 9-446, a qualified candidate committee of a major party candidate for the office of state senator who appears on the ballot for such adjourned primary shall be eligible to receive a grant from the fund for the adjourned primary in an amount of fifteen thousand dollars, provided in the case of a primary held in 2016, or thereafter, said amount shall be adjusted under subsection (h) of this section.
(B) In the case of an adjourned election pursuant to section 9-332, a qualified candidate committee of a candidate for the office of state senator who has been nominated, or has qualified to appear on the election ballot in accordance with subpart C of part III of chapter 153, and who appears on the ballot for such adjourned election shall be eligible to receive a grant from the fund for the general election campaign in the amount of fifteen thousand dollars, provided in the case of an election held in 2016, or thereafter, said amount shall be adjusted under subsection (h) of this section.
(f) (1) The qualified candidate committee of a major party candidate for the office of state representative who has a primary for nomination to said office shall be eligible to receive a grant from the fund for the primary campaign in the amount of ten thousand dollars, provided (A) if the percentage of the electors in the district served by said office who are enrolled in said major party exceeds the percentage of the electors in said district who are enrolled in another major party by at least twenty percentage points, the amount of said grant shall be twenty-five thousand dollars, and (B) in the case of a primary held in 2010, or thereafter, said amounts shall be adjusted under subsection (h) of this section. For the purposes of subparagraph (A) of this subdivision, the number of enrolled members of a major party and the number of electors in a district shall be determined by the latest enrollment and voter registration records in the office of the Secretary of the State submitted in accordance with the provisions of section 9-65. The names of electors on the inactive registry list compiled under section 9-35 shall not be counted for such purposes.
(2) The qualified candidate committee of a candidate for the office of state representative who has been nominated, or has qualified to appear on the election ballot in accordance with subpart C of part III of chapter 153, shall be eligible to receive a grant from the fund for the general election campaign in the amount of twenty-five thousand dollars, provided in the case of an election held in 2010, or thereafter, said amount shall be adjusted under subsection (h) of this section.
(3) (A) In the case of an adjourned primary pursuant to section 9-446, a qualified candidate committee of a major party candidate for the office of state representative who appears on the ballot for such adjourned primary shall be eligible to receive a grant from the fund for the adjourned primary in an amount of five thousand dollars, provided in the case of a primary held in 2016, or thereafter, said amount shall be adjusted under subsection (h) of this section.
(B) In the case of an adjourned election pursuant to section 9-332, a qualified candidate committee of a candidate for the office of state representative who has been nominated, or has qualified to appear on the election ballot in accordance with subpart C of part III of chapter 153, and who appears on the ballot for such adjourned election shall be eligible to receive a grant from the fund for the general election campaign in the amount of five thousand dollars, provided in the case of an election held in 2016, or thereafter, said amount shall be adjusted under subsection (h) of this section.
(g) (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (e) and (f) of this section, the qualified candidate committee of an eligible minor party candidate for the office of state senator or state representative shall be eligible to receive a grant from the fund for the general election campaign if the candidate of the same minor party for the same office at the last preceding regular election received at least ten per cent of the whole number of votes cast for all candidates for said office at said election. The amount of the grant shall be one-third of the amount of the general election campaign grant under subsection (e) or (f) of this section for a candidate for the same office, provided (A) if the candidate of the same minor party for the same office at the last preceding regular election received at least fifteen per cent of the whole number of votes cast for all candidates for said office at said election, the amount of the grant shall be two-thirds of the amount of the general election campaign grant under subsection (e) or (f) of this section for a candidate for the same office, (B) if the candidate of the same minor party for the same office at the last preceding regular election received at least twenty per cent of the whole number of votes cast for all candidates for said office at said election, the amount of the grant shall be the same as the amount of the general election campaign grant under subsection (e) or (f) of this section for a candidate for the same office, and (C) in the case of an election held in 2010, or thereafter, said amounts shall be adjusted under subsection (h) of this section.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (e) and (f) of this section, the qualified candidate committee of an eligible petitioning party candidate for the office of state senator or state representative shall be eligible to receive a grant from the fund for the general election campaign if said candidate’s nominating petition has been signed by a number of qualified electors equal to at least ten per cent of the whole number of votes cast for the same office at the last preceding regular election. The amount of the grant shall be one-third of the amount of the general election campaign grant under subsection (e) or (f) of this section for a candidate for the same office, provided (A) if said candidate’s nominating petition has been signed by a number of qualified electors equal to at least fifteen per cent of the whole number of votes cast for the same office at the last preceding regular election, the amount of the grant shall be two-thirds of the amount of the general election campaign grant under subsection (e) or (f) of this section for a candidate for the same office, (B) if said candidate’s nominating petition has been signed by a number of qualified electors equal to at least twenty per cent of the whole number of votes cast for the same office at the last preceding regular election, the amount of the grant shall be the same as the amount of the general election campaign grant under subsection (e) or (f) of this section for a candidate for the same office, and (C) in the case of an election held in 2010, or thereafter, said amounts shall be adjusted under subsection (h) of this section.
(3) In addition to the provisions of subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection, the qualified candidate committee of an eligible petitioning party candidate and the qualified candidate committee of an eligible minor party candidate for the office of state senator or state representative shall be eligible to receive a supplemental grant from the fund after the general election if the treasurer of such candidate committee reports a deficit in the first statement filed after the general election, pursuant to section 9-608, and such candidate received a greater percentage of the whole number of votes cast for all candidates for said office at said election than the percentage of votes utilized by such candidate to obtain a general election campaign grant described in subdivision (1) or (2) of this subsection. The amount of such supplemental grant shall be calculated as follows:
(A) In the case of any such candidate who receives more than ten per cent, but less than fifteen per cent, of the whole number of votes cast for all candidates for said office at said election, the grant shall be the product of (i) a fraction in which the numerator is the difference between the percentage of such whole number of votes received by such candidate and ten per cent and the denominator is ten, and (ii) two-thirds of the amount of the general election campaign grant under subsection (e) or (f) of this section for a major party candidate for the same office.
(B) In the case of any such candidate who receives more than fifteen per cent, but less than twenty per cent, of the whole number of votes cast for all candidates for said office at said election, the grant shall be the product of (i) a fraction in which the numerator is the difference between the percentage of such whole number of votes received by such candidate and fifteen per cent and the denominator is five, and (ii) one-third of the amount of the general election campaign grant under subsection (e) or (f) of this section for a major party candidate for the same office.
(C) The sum of the general election campaign grant received by any such candidate and a supplemental grant under this subdivision shall not exceed one hundred per cent of the amount of the general election campaign grant under subsection (e) or (f) of this section for a major party candidate for the same office.
(h) For elections held in 2010, and thereafter, the amount of the grants in subsections (e), (f) and (g) of this section shall be adjusted by the State Elections Enforcement Commission not later than January 15, 2010, and biennially thereafter, in accordance with any change in the consumer price index for all urban consumers as published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, during the period beginning on January 1, 2008, and ending on December thirty-first in the year preceding the year in which said adjustment is to be made.
(i) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (e), (f) and (g) of this section, in the case of a special election for the office of state senator or state representative, the amount of the grant for a general election campaign shall be seventy-five per cent of the amount authorized under the applicable said subsection (e), (f) or (g).
(j) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a) to (i), inclusive, of this section:
(1) The initial grant that a qualified candidate committee for a candidate is eligible to receive under subsections (a) to (i), inclusive, of this section shall be reduced by the amount of any personal funds that the candidate provides for the candidate’s campaign for nomination or election pursuant to subsection (c) of section 9-710;
(2) If a participating candidate is nominated at a primary and does not expend the entire grant for the primary campaign authorized under subsection (a), (b), (e) or (f) of this section, the amount of the grant for the general election campaign shall be reduced by the total amount of any such unexpended primary campaign grant and moneys;
(3) If a participating candidate who is nominated for election does not have any opponent in the general election campaign, the amount of the general election campaign grant for which the qualified candidate committee for said candidate shall be eligible shall be thirty per cent of the applicable amount set forth in subsections (a) to (i), inclusive, of this section. For purposes of this subdivision, a participating candidate shall be deemed to have an opponent if (A) a major party has properly endorsed any other candidate and made the requisite filing with the Secretary of the State within the time specified in section 9-391 or 9-400, as applicable, (B) any candidate of any other major party has received not less than fifteen per cent of the vote of convention delegates and has complied with the filing requirements set forth in section 9-400, or (C) any candidate of any other major party has circulated a petition and obtained the required number of signatures for filing a candidacy for nomination and has either qualified for the primary or been deemed the party’s nominee;
(4) If the only opponent or opponents of a participating candidate who is nominated for election to an office are eligible minor party candidates or eligible petitioning party candidates and no such eligible minor party candidate’s or eligible petitioning party candidate’s candidate committee has received a total amount of contributions of any type that is equal to or greater than the amount of the qualifying contributions that a candidate for such office is required to receive under section 9-704 to be eligible for grants from the Citizens’ Election Fund, the amount of the general election campaign grant for such participating candidate shall be sixty per cent of the applicable amount set forth in this section; and
(5) The amount of the primary grant or general election campaign grant for a qualified candidate committee shall be reduced, pursuant to the provisions of this subdivision, if such candidate committee has control and custody over lawn signs from any prior election or primary in the following applicable amount: (A) Five hundred or more lawn signs for the qualified candidate committee of a candidate for the office of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, State Comptroller, Secretary of the State or State Treasurer, (B) one hundred or more lawn signs for the qualified candidate committee of a candidate for the office of state senator, or (C) fifty or more lawn signs for the qualified candidate committee of a candidate for the office of state representative. If such qualified candidate committee has custody and control over lawn signs in the applicable amount, as described in this subdivision, the grant from the fund for the primary campaign or general election campaign, as applicable, for such qualified candidate committee shall be reduced as follows: (i) Two thousand five hundred dollars for the qualified candidate committee of a candidate for the office of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, State Comptroller, Secretary of the State or State Treasurer, (ii) five hundred dollars for the qualified candidate committee of a candidate for the office of state senator, or (iii) two hundred fifty dollars for the qualified candidate committee of a candidate for the office of state representative. In no event shall such a reduction be made both to a qualified candidate committee’s primary campaign grant and to such candidate committee’s general election grant. No reduction in either the primary campaign or general election campaign for a qualified candidate committee’s grant shall be taken for any lawn sign that is not in the custody or control of the qualified candidate committee. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to apply to any item other than lawn signs.