INDIANAPOLIS -- As Mike Pence officially becomes Donald Trump’s running mate, there’s still a big unanswered question left over from his gubernatorial campaign – where does the money go?
Through the last campaign finance filing period – which ended June 30 – Pence had more than $7 million in his gubernatorial campaign account. That money is now in limbo as state Republicans wait to see what the governor will do with it.
He can’t directly transfer it to the presidential campaign; federal campaign finance laws don’t allow that. But Pence could transfer the money to, say, a super PAC, which could then give it to the presidential campaign. He could also simply keep the money in his state account – much like Evan Bayh did when he abandoned his Senate reelection bid in 2010.
However, some Indiana Republicans say they’d like to see most of the money stay in the governor’s race, for whichever candidate the party chooses to replace Pence on the ballot. Pence could directly transfer all his campaign cash to that candidate.
The Indiana GOP will choose its new nominee next week.
