The Walking Debt: How Zombie PACs Threaten Federal Elections and Proposals For Reform

Zombie political action committees are political entities that are legally alive but whose candidate the committee is attached to has either died or functionally retired from politics. These committees form as a byproduct of skewed incentives in campaign finance law. The Federal Election Commission (“FEC”) is tasked with enforcing campaign finance laws and terminating political committees. However, it is structurally ineffective at enforcing those laws. Congress, meanwhile, has defunded the FEC and is poorly incentivized to improve its efficacy, as any Congressperson may one day benefit from having a zombie committee. When zombies do form, they are almost impossible to terminate. Their haunting presence undermines the foundation of campaign finance regulations, which is to uphold electoral transparency and reduce corruption. This Comment will explore: (1) the ineffectiveness of the FEC’s current approach to adjudicating committee debts; (2) how the FEC’s debt resolution process leads to the formation of zombies and how zombies operate in the larger context of campaign finance regulation; (3) the threats that zombies pose to elections; and (4) the benefits of congressional amendments to the Bankruptcy Code allowing zombies to enjoy chapter 7 and chapter 11 protections.