In the
election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operat ...
politics of the United States, an exploratory committee is an organization established to help determine whether a potential candidate should run for an elected office. They are most often cited in reference to candidates for
president of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...
prior to
campaign announcements and the
primaries
Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the c ...
. Forming an exploratory committee for president almost always precedes an official candidacy, though some, such as
Paul Wellstone
Paul David Wellstone (July 21, 1944 – October 25, 2002) was an American academic, author, and politician who represented Minnesota in the United States Senate from 1991 until he was killed in a plane crash near Eveleth, Minnesota, in 2002. A ...
in 2000 and
Evan Bayh in 2008, have declined to formally run.
Exploratory committees may be governed by law. For example, the
District of Columbia
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle (Washington, D.C.), Logan Circle, Jefferson Memoria ...
legally defines ''Exploratory Committees'' as (in DC Official Code § 1-1101.01(6)(B)(vi)):
Exploratory, draft or "testing the waters" committees are formed solely for the purpose of determining the feasibility of an individual’s candidacy for office. The activities of exploratory committees may include polling, travel, and telephone calls to determine whether the individual should become a candidate.
NPR reporter Ron Elving described the use of exploratory committees in his story, "Declaring for President is a
Dance of Seven Veils," which aired on December 5, 2006. He wrote:
The exploratory committee has been around for decades, and technically it creates a legal shell for a candidate who expects to spend more than $5,000 while contemplating an actual run. Under the rules, exploratory money may be raised without the full disclosure of sources required of true candidates. Only when the candidate drops the exploratory label does the full responsibility of transparency apply.
Candidates use an exploratory committee as not only a transitional phase for their bookkeeping but as an extra claim on media attention. Some of the most skillful handlers like to leak word that their candidate is testing the waters, then leak word that he or she is thinking about forming an exploratory committee. Additional "news" can be made when the same candidate actually forms such a committee and registers with the Federal Election Commission. Yet a fourth round of attention may be generated when the word exploratory gets dropped from the committee filing.NPR: Declaring for President is a Dance of Seven Veils
/ref>
References
External links
(Press Release) ''Federal Election Commission'' (no date)
Candidate Registration Brochure''Federal Election Commission,'' March 2005, revised June 2008.
District of Columbia Campaign Finance Guide
Committees
Election campaigns in the United States
Political terminology of the United States
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