Rule 4.4 Campaign Committees

(A) A judicial candidate for retention, nonpartisan, or partisan election may establish a campaign committee to manage and conduct a campaign for the candidate, subject to the provisions of this Code. The candidate is responsible for ensuring that his or her campaign committee complies with applicable provisions of this Code and other applicable law. A judicial candidate may also personally solicit or accept campaign contributions.

(B) A judicial candidate for retention, nonpartisan, or partisan election shall direct his or her campaign committee:

(1) to solicit and accept only such campaign contributions as are permitted by law.

(2) not to solicit or accept contributions for a candidate’s current campaign more than one year before the applicable primary election, caucus, or general or retention election, nor more than 90 days after the last election in which the candidate participated; and

(3) to comply with all applicable statutory requirements for disclosure and divestiture of campaign contributions.

COMMENT

[1] Campaign committees may solicit and accept campaign contributions, manage the expenditure of campaign funds, and generally conduct campaigns. Candidates are responsible for compliance with the requirements of election law and other applicable law, and for the activities of their campaign committees.

[2] At the start of a campaign, the candidate must instruct the campaign committee to solicit or accept only such contributions as are permitted by law. Although lawyers and others who might appear before a successful candidate for judicial office are permitted to make campaign contributions, the candidate should instruct his or her campaign committee to be especially cautious in connection with such contributions, so they do not create grounds for disqualification if the candidate is elected to judicial office. See Rule 2.11.