Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) will get to keep $51,100 in excess contributions to his presidential campaign from 19 donors by attributing the money to the donors’ spouses, the campaign said in a letter to the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday.

Cruz’s campaign will move even more money to a separate general election account to be accessed only if Cruz becomes the Republican nominee. Cruz may have to refund that money if he fails. After today’s maneuver, the campaign money sitting in that account grows, which is not necessarily a good thing for the candidate. Already, about 15 percent of the $4.2 million Cruz raised in the first quarter of 2015 — when the excess contributions came in — had to be put into the general election stash.

Cruz’ campaign reported that it raised $10 million in the second quarter. It’s unclear how that breaks down between money Cruz can use in the primaries and funds that must be saved for later, and only if he wins the GOP nod. Super PACs allied with his campaign say they have raised another $37 million.

In March, 42 individual donors gave Cruz $10,800 apiece, which far exceeds the FEC’s individual contribution limit of $2,700 per person. So his campaign will break down 39 of those donors’ contributions, setting some of the money aside for the general election and attributing some of it to those donors’ spouses. Excess funds from another 38 donors will get dropped in the general election account.

But for an additional 18 donors who gave $5,400 and one donor who gave $5,000, the Cruz campaign will say half of that came from those donors’ spouses; none of them had their names on the original paperwork.

All told, that means Cruz’ campaign gets to keep $51,100 in what were originally over-sized contributions, regardless of whether he clinches his party’s nomination next year.

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“What he’s doing is pretty standard, as the commissioners have allowed it,” Larry Noble, a former FEC general counsel and former director of the Center for Responsive Politics, said. “Over the years, they’ve liberalized the rules. At one time you had to get written re-designations from the contributor, you had to get the spouse to, in writing, re-attribute it. And now, they just have to send out letters saying you’re doing it.”

It’s not clear, however, what due diligence went into determining whether the money’s new attribution reflects the donors’ spouses’ opinions. Representatives from Cruz’ office and campaign could not be reached for comment.

“When this first came up, I opposed this…you know, I know my spouse for example, might not give to the same person I give to and might not be thrilled about it,” Noble said.

The firebrand senator doesn’t much care for campaign finance limits at all. In March, he proffered that eliminating campaign finance limits would allow people to participate more fully in democracy, according to the Washington Post.

Like Cruz, a number of candidates in the crowded field are already touting their fundraising hauls, but none have yet filed reports with the FEC that will document their claims and allow closer analysis. The reports are due by July 15.



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