In a previous post we explored the possibility that Council Member Kristin Mink’s campaign took almost $9,000 from the public election fund beyond what it was allowed. In this post we explore the possibility that CM Kate Stewart took about $7,500 in the same manner.
Recall that MoCo contributes up to $125,000 of matching funds per election cycle for district campaigns.
According to its finance reports, the Stewart campaign received $132,596.96 of public funds, exceeding the allowable limit by $7,596.96. All the gory detail of those transactions appears in the following extracts from the reports, which you can download from the state board of elections’s Campaign Reporting Information System.
02/28/2022 Matching Fund Report Gubernatorial
04/04/2022 Matching Fund Report Gubernatorial
05/16/2022 Matching Fund Report Gubernatorial
06/07/2022 Pre-Primary1 Gubernatorial
07/03/2022 Pre-Primary2 Gubernatorial
08/23/2022 Pre-General1 Report Gubernatorial
10/23/2022 Pre-General2 Report Gubernatorial
11/15/2022 Post-General Gubernatorial
We see that the Stewart campaign very possibly overcharged the county election fund by $132,596.96 − 125,000 = $7,596.96.
There are a few problems here. First, the Stewart campaign was fully aware by July 17, 2022 that it had received the maximum allowed, so why did it put in three more requests for public financing?
Second, why did the county Board of Elections grant the request? Are there no checks on disbursements of this nature, and campaigns can just keep coming back for more?
