EXAMPLE Checked 2026-10-13
Elections & campaign finance
“You can give a federal candidate up to $3,500 per election in 2025–2026.”
Bottom line
Accurate. The FEC limit for an individual giving to a candidate committee is $3,500 per election. A primary and a general election are separate elections, so each has its own limit. Super PACs can take unlimited amounts. Left- and right-leaning groups disagree about whether limits are too high or too low.
Left view
Brennan Center for Justice · left-leaning
Wants to reduce the influence of large donors through public matching of small donations.
“Over the years, small donor public financing has emerged as the most powerful antidote to the outsize influence of megadonors in our elections.”
Small Donor Public Financing, Explained (June 29, 2023)
Right view
Cato Institute · libertarian / right-leaning
Argues contribution limits restrict political speech and favor incumbents. This is an older piece; Cato’s archive still publishes it.
“Low contribution limits have forced candidates to spend large amounts of time seeking funds.”
Why Campaign Finance Reform Never Works (Bradley A. Smith, Mar. 20, 1997)
Just the Facts
Primary / official data only
An individual can give a candidate committee $3,500 per election.
“Individual | $3,500* per election”
FEC, Contribution limits for 2025–2026 federal electionsThe limit is indexed for inflation.
“*Indexed for inflation in odd-numbered years.”
FEC (same page)Primaries and general elections each get a separate limit.
“A primary, general, runoff and special election are each considered a separate election with a separate limit.”
FEC (same page)Super PACs can accept unlimited contributions.
“Independent-expenditure-only political committees (sometimes called “Super PACs”) may accept unlimited contributions, including from corporations and labor organizations.”
FEC (same page)
Who’s the publisher?
Brennan Center for Justice
Who runs it: “The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law is an independent, nonpartisan law and policy organization that works to reform, revitalize, and defend our country’s systems of democracy and justice.” About page
What data it collects (privacy policy):
- “Automatically Collected Data: We automatically collect and store IP addresses and domain names of computers from visitors to our website.”
- “Cookies; Tracking Mechanisms: The Brennan Center uses cookies to prepopulate forms for users, to auto-populate forms, and to track user patterns on the Site.”
Cato Institute
Who runs it: “The Cato Institute is an assiduously nonpartisan and independent public policy research organization—or think tank—that creates a presence for and promotes libertarian ideas in policy debates.” About page
What data it collects (privacy policy):
- “Log Files, which may collect information such as Internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, geographic location, Internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp and clickstream data.”
Quotes are copied word for word from the linked pages as they read on 2026-10-13. Pages can change, so check the source.