Politics PA

WASHINGTON – The Federal Election Commission announced Thursday that it has fined the campaign of Sen. Arlen Specter $10,900 and ordered it to repay $37,950 in excessive contributions from his 2004 re-election campaign.

The Pennsylvania Republican-turned-Democrat, who’s running for re-election again this year, accepted about $719,000 in contributions from individuals and $21,850 from political action committees that exceeded federal giving limits. The Specter campaign gave most of that money back, but the FEC found that $37,950 remains to be refunded.

The FEC found campaign treasurer Stephen Harmelin, a Philadelphia attorney, to be at fault for the contributions and noted that Mr. Specter was in no way at fault. The FEC and the campaign agreed on the penalties and the facts of the case.

During the 2004 campaign, individuals could not give more than $2,000 and PACs no more than $5,000 to a single campaign for each election – with the primary and general election counting separately toward those limits.

Overpayments are common due to oversights by donors; the burden is on the campaign to keep track and issue refunds if necessary.

The 2004 Specter campaign, according an FEC audit, did not give its refunds within the legally mandated 60-day window and did not give back all its required refunds.

The Specter campaign contended that most of the disputed contributions were made during primary season and were re-assigned as general election contributions within the legal limits, but the FEC found that the campaign did not appropriately notify donors of this. The illness and death of a key staffer, the Specter campaign told the FEC, was a partial reason for not sending out all the notices.

Read the full Post-Gazette article here

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Tags: Arlen Specter

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