Rolling in the Dough: The Continued Surge in Individual Contributions to Presidential Candidates and Party Committees

Abstract

The dramatic growth in the numbers of individuals contributing to presidential candidates and the surge in total amounts being contributed has generated substantial media attention in the 2008 presidential election. Individuals are giving more, in part, because the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) raised contribution limits and encouraged "max-out" donors to contribute to party committees as well. This study compares individual contributions to presidential candidates and party committees in 1999, the year prior to the last pre-BCRA presidential election, and in the years prior to post-BCRA presidential elections.