Candidates may have to refund millions in Clean Elections money
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Three statewide candidates may have to return millions in public campaign funding after a Citizens Clean Elections Commission (CCEC) investigation found evidence that they improperly obtained the money.
The big picture: Risa Lombardo and Duwayne Collier, the Green Party's nominees for governor and secretary of state, respectively, and Scott Neely, who lost the Republican primary for governor, have collectively received $4.7 million in Clean Elections funding.
- CCEC executive director Tom Collins told the candidates this week that he'll ask the commission to order repayment of the money due to "strong evidence" that they "in fact did not collect $5 from each person who apparently signed a qualifying contribution form for your candidacy."
The intrigue: The Green Party accuses Lombardo and Collier of being "sham" Green candidates and is urging people not to vote for them.
How it works: Clean Elections candidates forgo private money and qualify for public funding by collecting a minimum number of $5 contributions.
By the numbers: Lombardo and Neely each received $1.1 million for the primary and Collier got about $296,000, all of which they've reported spending.
- For the general election, Lombardo gets $1.8 million and Collier $443,000.
State of play: Collins described for the commission Thursday the findings of a months-long ongoing investigation into Collier, Lombardo and Neely.
- Of about 5,000 individual donors the trio reported, about 75% gave to multiple candidates and nearly half gave to all three, which Collins deemed suspicious.
- The candidates deposited their $5 contributions into their campaign bank accounts in single lump sums shortly before applying for Clean Elections funding rather than periodically throughout their campaigns, per Collins.
- The lack of funding and expenses on the candidates' campaign finance reports don't match up with their campaign activities.
Collins also pointed to a recent story from the Arizona Mirror, which spoke with six people listed as contributors to all three candidates who said they didn't give $5 to any of them.
- He told the commission that CCEC staff has interviewed alleged donors as well, and is continuing to do so, and that "our fieldwork is consistent with what the Mirror has reported."
The other side: Timothy La Sota, a Republican election attorney who represents Collier and Lombardo, told the commission that Collins' findings were a "far-fetched conspiracy theory" aimed at undermining candidates he opposes.
- He said it's not uncommon for candidates to wait to deposit their $5 contributions until they have enough to qualify.
- Pertaining to the lack of reported financial activity, he noted that campaigns aren't allowed to pay people to collect qualifying contributions and must instead rely on volunteers.
- And he said the Mirror spoke to only six donors out of thousands, and questioned whether their statements were accurate or truthful.
"I haven't engaged in any fraud and I'm confident I will be exonerated soon," Neely told the commission.
What's next: The commission directed Collins to finish his investigation and recommend a course of action by its Sept. 24 meeting, or by Oct. 29 at the latest.