The Role of Parties in Legislative Campaign Financing

Abstract

The purpose of the analysis presented in this paper is to examine the role that party organizations play in campaign finance systems of state legislative elections. Party organizations are found to be more likely to fund candidates in competitive elections and more likely to fund challengers than are nonparty organizations. The impact of an increased role for party organizations in campaign finance systems is illustrated by simulating the distribution of campaign money and the results of state legislative elections under different scenarios of party funding.