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We’ve been saying that this election will be BYOB — “bring your own billionaire” — but for Donald Trump, it’s more like “BE your own billionaire.”
Trump has pledged to self-finance, and so far he has loaned $1.8 million of his own money to his campaign. He’s received just $100,000 in contributions from other donors.
In an election that’s expected to top $10 billion, it will be interesting to watch if Trump really does deliver on funding his own campaign. By self-financing, he’d avoid many of the rules other candidates have to follow. For instance, while other candidates are subject to campaign finance laws restricting their coordination with super PACs, the Trump campaign can be its own super PAC — meaning Trump can continue to run his campaign the way he wants without any needing outside input.
But being able to fund your own campaign hasn’t really helped presidential candidates in the past. We flipped through old campaign finance reports to find some of the largest self-financing presidential spenders:
What do all of these people have in common? None of them have taken up residency at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (barring Bush’s result in this year’s contest). On the other hand, the Donald’s net worth is likely much larger than previous candidates. We’ll have to wait and see if Election 2016 turns out any differently.
The Sunlight Foundation is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization that uses the power of the Internet to catalyze greater government openness and transparency, and provides new tools and resources for media and citizens, alike.