The Campaign Finance Board oversees candidates running for municipal office in New York City: Mayor, Public Advocate, Comptroller, Borough President and City Council.
If you have any questions or would like to learn more about running for office, the Candidate and Committee Services Unit is available to help! Contact us at CandidateServices@nyccfb.info or by telephone at (212) 409-1800, Monday through Friday from 9:00 am – 5:00 pm.
Registration for the 2029 Election Cycle have not begun. Fill out this form to be notified when registration for the 2029 elections is open. If you are considering running for office for the first time, we recommend attending the New to the CFB training. This training covers the expectations and demands of running for city office. Sign up here!
Before You Register
Before you register with the CFB, there are a number of things to consider, including the following:
- The Office You Might Seek
Are you running for City Council, Borough President, Comptroller, Public Advocate, or Mayor? All candidates for these offices must register with the CFB and follow its rules and requirements. You must disclose the office you are seeking when you register with the CFB.
- Picking a Treasurer
Choose your treasurer carefully—this is the key person responsible for compliance with the CFB and, along with the candidate, responsible for accurately reporting transactions, properly maintaining your campaign’s documentation, and submitting disclosure statements to the CFB.
Your treasurer can be paid or a volunteer, but the position is a serious time commitment, both before and after the election. If penalties are assessed at the conclusion of the post-election audit, the candidate, treasurer, and committee are severally liable for penalties, so it is in your best interest to choose a treasurer who is willing to dedicate the time and effort to run a compliant campaign.
Note: Even though candidates may serve as their own treasurers, this is not recommended as the reporting and documentation requirements are very time consuming.
- Naming Your Committee
Choose a name for your committee – the legal entity of your campaign. Your committee name should be clear, easy to remember, and include the first and/or last name of the candidate. The name of your committee will be the name that is used when the campaign registers with the CFB, obtains an EIN, and opens a bank account. You will read more on this in the next section.
If you ran for office in the past, do not use a name that could be confused with the name of your previous committee(s). Keep in mind that contributions must be payable to your committee, so choose a name that is short and easy for contributors to remember.
- Joining the Matching Funds Program
When you register, you will need to indicate whether you will join the Matching Funds Program. Your selection is non-binding until the Certification deadline or prior to receiving public funds, whichever is earlier. Read more about the Program here.
How to Register with the CFB
Campaigns are required to register with the CFB prior to having financial activity. To start your registration, complete the steps below:
- Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS.
EINs are assigned to corporations, partnerships, political committees, and other entities for tax filing and reporting purposes. Obtaining an EIN is mandatory for registering a committee and opening a bank account. Apply for and obtain an EIN directly from the Internal Revenue Service website or by calling (800) 829-1040 for assistance.
As mentioned above, your EIN should match the committee name used when you are prepared to register with the CFB. - Open a bank account in your committee’s name.
Ask the bank if they provide deposit slips and images of both the front and back of canceled committee checks. This is a CFB requirement. Review additional information about banking requirements and choosing a bank.
Note: If the bank requires documentation from the CFB confirming your campaign’s registration to open a bank account, you can proceed with the next step, which is registering with the CFB. Once the CFB has accepted your campaign’s registration, your assigned Candidate Services liaison will send you a letter confirming your campaign’s registration for the election cycle, which you can provide to your bank. You must then open a bank account and provide your bank account information to the CFB within 15 business days or before the end of the current disclosure period, whichever is sooner. - Register your committee with the CFB
Register your committee through the CFB Portal. See the CFB Portal User Guide for step-by-step registration instructions.
Once your registration has been accepted, you will be added to the Candidate List and receive a welcome email from your assigned Candidate Services liaison. This email will be sent to the email addresses on your campaign’s registration and may include login credentials for C-SMART, the CFB’s web-based application which campaigns must use to enter financial transactions, maintain contributors’ information, and submit disclosure statements to the CFB.
Once you have completed the steps above, you are ready to begin fundraising and campaigning.
Next Steps
- Attend CFB Trainings
Candidates and treasurers must complete Compliance trainings, and treasurers must complete C-SMART trainings as well. Please review the Trainings webpage. Compliance trainings cover campaign finance law and CFB rules. C‑SMART trainings provide an overview of the CFB’s web-based application, which campaigns must use to track and disclose financial activity.
The CFB also offers a New to the CFB training that is geared toward first-time candidates, treasurers, and campaign staff. This training is optional and will cover an overview of some expectations and demands of running for a CFB-covered office. Attend this training prior to the Compliance and C‑SMART trainings.
Note: All trainings are open to the public, even if you have not yet registered your campaign with the CFB.
View the training calendar and sign up for a training - Contact your Candidate Services Liaison
Your liaison can help answer questions about compliance and will remind you of important deadlines and filing requirements. Keep in touch with your liaison by making sure that your campaign’s contact information is up to date in the CFB Portal. - Set up a Contribute account
Contribute is a fundraising platform created by the CFB to simplify the process of collecting credit card contributions online while meeting the CFB's reporting and recordkeeping requirements. This platform allows you to easily collect credit card contributions, set up fundraising events to more easily track and report contributions raised, and transfer contribution data directly to C-SMART. Refer to the FAQs for Campaigns for instructions on signing up for Contribute.