The amount of money available to candidates will depend on how much money was budgeted by City Council and how many candidates are running for City Council Districts 1-7 in current election. This year, there is a total of roughly $177,000 available to be distributed among eligible candidates. In past years, the amount distributed per candidate has ranged between $8,000 and $25,000. No candidate may receive more than 30% of Oakland's voluntary expenditure ceiling for the office being sought.
After the nominations period has closed in August 2022 and you are certified as a District City Council candidate in the 2022 election, you may be eligible for limited public financing to assist with your campaign.
Reallocation of Funds
To ensure that full amount of allocated funds in the general election fund is distributed to all interested candidates, the Public Ethics Commission provides a two-phase approach for the disbursement of Limited Public Financing (LPF) funds to participants.
Phase I - The initial phase begins once eligible candidates opt in to the LPF program and the Public Ethics Commission determines the amount available to each participant.
Phase II - The second "redistribution phase" sets an early deadline for participants to submit the first reimbursement request. As a result, LPF Form 2 and the first LPF Form 3 must be submitted on or before the Phase II deadline of September 19. Failure to timely file LPF Form 2 and initial LPF Form 3 by that deadline will deem the participant ineligible to receive public funds for the election.
Candidates who meet the September 18 deadline may proceed to Phase II. After the Phase II deadline, the Public Ethics Commission recalculates and then reallocates funds according to the number of participants that net the Phase II requirement. The redistribution can potentially increase the allotted amount to each participant based on the number of candidates that proceed to Phase II.