Wyden-Graham bill would limit senators’ fundraising

Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) will unveil a bill today that would change Senate rules to limit campaign fundraising by incumbents without amending the Constitution.

The senators worked together on campaign-finance reform during the last election cycle, offering a bill that would require candidates to attach their names to Internet, print and telephone ads. Similar rules for TV and radio ads were passed as part of the McCain-Feingold law in 2002.

Senate incumbent fundraising jumped by 49 percent during the last election compared with the previous three cycles, while challenger fundraising gained no ground, according to an October 2004 analysis by the nonpartisan Campaign Finance Institute.