Doug Burgum is offering $20 to people donating $1 to his campaign. Is that legal?

North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum is offering $20 gift cards to people donating at least $1 to his Republican presidential campaign in a bid to meet fundraising thresholds for the next GOP primary debate.

The big picture: In order to participate in the debate, candidates need to have a minimum of 40,000 donors and receive donations from 200 or more donors in at least 20 states.
* To meet this threshold, Burgum has launched a campaign, limiting the offer to the first 50,000 donors.
* The potential return for this campaign could help Burgum make a significant entry on the main debate stage, despite costing him up to a million dollars.

Controversy and criticism: The strategy raises ethical and legal questions about the role of money in U.S. politics and the legality of giving money to potential voters.
* Some legal and political experts question if this scheme violates the federal prohibition on straw donors and constitutes a form of reimbursing others for their campaign contribution.
* While some don’t see it as technically illegal, they tag it as potentially unethical as it could be seen as buying the right to compete, not necessarily votes.

Who is Burgum?: Doug Burgum, a former political outsider, rose to prominence after winning the governor’s race in North Dakota in 2016.
* He was reelected in 2020 and announced his bid for U.S. president last month.
* Burgum has expressed his willingness to use his private wealth to fuel his campaign, and has tech and investing fortunes including a stint as an executive at Microsoft.

Impact of the strategy: The $20 gift card offer is not only aimed at debate eligibility, but also appears to be a tool for expanding Burgum’s donor base.
* The campaign can gain email and street addresses from donors, and those who add phone numbers also agree to receive calls and text messages.
* The strategy has already garnered widespread media attention, potentially enhancing Burgum’s profile.

View original article on NPR

This summary was created by an AI system. The use of this summary is subject to our Terms of Service.

Contact us about this post

Posted

in

by

Tags:

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *