This message confirms that campaign expenditure ceilings no longer apply to any candidate seeking election to the following offices:
• City Council District 3
Per the Oakland Campaign Reform Act, this is because either independent expenditures totaling more than $30,000 have been made by an independent committee in the race for City Council District 3 or a candidate in City Council District 3 who did not accept the voluntary expenditure limits has received contributions or made qualified campaign expenditures equal to fifty percent or more of the $150,000 limit.
Candidates for City Council District 3 are therefore able to spend money over the expenditure ceiling. Please note that expenditure ceilings for all other races that have accepted the voluntary expenditure limits remain in effect.
Please also note that expenditure ceilings are not to be confused with contribution limits which continue as follows:
• Candidates for the 2024 election may continue to raise money at $600 per individual contributor/$1,200 per qualified broad-based political committee – and the overall campaign expenditure ceiling no longer applies.
Background
As you know, the Oakland Campaign Reform Act imposes contribution limits. The purpose of this provision is to “limit overall expenditures in campaigns, thereby reducing the pressure on candidates to raise large campaign war chests for defensive purposes, beyond the amount necessary to communicate reasonably with voters.”1
Oakland does not impose limits on independent expenditures, which are currently protected under federal law. The Oakland Campaign Reform Act does, however, provide for the lifting of the voluntary expenditure ceiling once independent expenditures reach the threshold for a particular race. For District City Council races, if an independent expenditure committee (or any committee that makes an independent expenditure) spends more than $30,000 in the aggregate on a District City Council election or a District City Council candidate who did not accept the voluntary expenditure limits receives contributions or makes qualified campaign expenditures equal to fifty percent or more of the $150,000 limit, the applicable expenditure ceiling shall no longer be binding on any candidate running for the same office.2
If you have any questions about these rules or their effect, please do not hesitate to contact us at ethicscommission@oaklandca.gov.
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1 O.M.C. Section 3.12.220
2 O.M.C. Section 3.12.220