Perry Wants to Be PAC Man
There could be more PAC/Super PAC money flowing into the system if Rick Perry's campaign gets its way.
The Sunlight Foundation reports that Perry's campaign committee has asked the Federal Election Commission for advice on whether it can transition the committee to some kind of PAC.
According to that letter, the Perry campaign has been asking donors of some $270,000 whether they would agree to let them transfer the funds to the PAC/Super PAC. So far it is refunding about $100,000 to donors who preferred to say no.
If the FEC says the committee can make the move, and the former Perry campaign chooses the Super PAC route, it can begin to solicit new, unlimited funds, for campaign ads advocating the election of one of the other candidates. Perry has endorsed Gingrich.
If the FEC gives him the thumbs down, Perry also wants to know whether he can shift those funds to his gubernatorial campaign, the latter which move could benefit Texas TV stations, but not until 2016, when the governor is up for reelection.
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Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.