The New Hampshire Attorney General could provide fresh guidance on the ways in which political advocacy organizations can help fund candidates in state elections.
That’s because the New Hampshire Democratic Party has filed complaints — with both the New Hampshire Department of Justice and the IRS — alleging that the Republican Governors Association, or RGA, broke the law by funneling nearly $3.5 million to an RGA-affiliated advocacy organization called Live Free PAC, which, in turn, transferred more than $2 million to the campaign of GOP gubernatorial candidate Kelly Ayotte.
The source of those funds is not disclosed in the RGA’s filings.
The RGA is not registered in New Hampshire as a political organization. Because of that, Democrats say, its donations to Live Free PAC should be capped at $30,000 per election.
They further argue that because Live Free PAC’s “major purpose” is promoting Ayotte’s candidacy, it should be treated as a political committee and therefore “subject to the contribution limits that apply to political committees,” their complaint says.
Without action from the state, the Democrats say, deep-pocketed, out-of-state groups could funnel unlimited amounts of money into local races through advocacy organizations, without the public knowing who is ultimately behind that money.
The RGA, meanwhile, dismissed the matter as a distraction.
“This is a totally baseless complaint,” RGA communications director Courtney Alexander told NHPR.
But the complaint — and how the New Hampshire Attorney General and the IRS choose to resolve it — could serve to clarify how political committees and advocacy organizations are allowed to spend money on New Hampshire elections.
In recent years, the law on the front has been a moving target.
In 2021, the New Hampshire Legislature ended the state’s rarely used voluntary spending cap program for political candidates, and along with it all limits on contributions by political committees.
A year later, lawmakers adopted a bill that included a $30,000 cap on donations from candidates to committees.
Then, last year, the Legislature changed course again, by adding language to the state budget that allowed any candidate, political action committee, or political advocacy organization to transfer unlimited amounts of money to a candidate during any election cycle.
The Ayotte campaign says that change cleared the way for what’s going on with Live Free PAC.
“This is all politics; Kelly is in complete compliance with the law,” said Bryan Gould, counsel to the Ayotte campaign, in an email to NHPR.
The last word on that will depend on what the New Hampshire Department of Justice and IRS think. Both have confirmed receipt of the Democratic Party’s complaint.
A spokesman for the Department of Justice says the matter will be reviewed by its Election Law Unit.
