Candidates can pay selves using campaign funds

WASHINGTON -- Former Wisconsin congressional hopeful Bill Arndt told his wife they'd have to "live on love" when he took time off from his insurance job to campaign. Election officials decided Monday that candidates need a bit more than that.

The Federal Election Commission agreed to let candidates pay themselves salaries using campaign donations, aiming to encourage people who otherwise couldn't afford to give up their jobs to run. Commissioner Michael Toner, who sponsored the proposal, said it would help scale back some advantages of incumbency.

"We might be able in some small measure to do something to make some of these races more competitive," Toner said. "This could be an opportunity for middle America, people of modest means who are not independently wealthy, to run for public office."

By a 5-1 vote, the commission that oversees election laws decided to let nonincumbents pay themselves at a rate equal to the salary of the job they held when they decided to run, or the salary for the federal office they are seeking, whichever is less.

U.S. House and Senate members make $150,000 a year. The president earns $400,000 a year.

Arndt of Menomonie, Wis., an insurance salesman paid on commission, said he lost thousands of dollars in pay when he took time off to challenge Democratic Rep. Ron Kind this year.

"My wife asked me, 'What are we going to live on?' and I told her just like when we were first married, we were going to live on love," said Arndt, 56, a Republican.