MN GOP: "BILL LUTHER IS TAKING FEDERAL CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAWS FOR A RIDE" #2
The AP is reporting on former Congressman Bill Luther's potentially illegal campaign spending.
##
Former Congressman Luther still spending campaign cash
Democrat Bill Luther hasn't held public office since 2002 and has not run since then, either.
Former Minnesota Rep. Bill Luther, out of office since 2002, accepted $12,500 in donations and generated $63,442 in bills for campaign office expenses, travel and gasoline the past two years, according to a published report.
The Democrat's spending is being questioned by Republicans and others who wonder how he could count the expenses as campaign costs when he mounted no campaign in 2003 or 2004, the Star Tribune reported Saturday.
"This situation clearly raises a lot of questions," said Larry Noble, former general counsel for the Federal Election Commission and now executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks election spending. "It's not only unusual, it could be illegal."
Said Randy Wanke, a spokesman for the state Republican Party: "Bill Luther is taking federal campaign finance laws for a ride."
The state GOP planned to challenge the campaign spending Luther reported since he filed federal candidacy papers in January 2003 -- two months after he lost his U.S. House seat to Republican Rep. John Kline.
Luther, who spent four terms in Congress and two decades in the state Legislature, told the newspaper the expenses reflect an ongoing process of winding down campaign activities after 28 years in public life.
"I have not been pursuing any kind of campaign," he said. "It's just a winding-down of expenses and campaign activities, liquidating property and stuff like that."
Others said Luther's activity could be legitimate if he genuinely had an eye on the 2004 U.S. House race in Minnesota's 2nd District -- where he filed as a candidate in 2003 -- or even if he was laying the groundwork for a future House or Senate race.
"It's reasonable to think he was considering it," said Amy Kauffman, director of Hudson Institute's Project on Campaign and Election Laws. "A lot of people who are in office and lose it want to go back, and they're just waiting for the right moment."
After Luther filed his statement of candidacy in January 2003, most political observers expected a rematch with Kline, who had unseated him in November 2002. At the time, however, Luther said he filed as a candidate only to "consider different options."
Noble said he believes that's not sufficient to justify Luther's campaign fund raising and spending.
Kauffman disputes that, noting that while federal law pegs contributions to specific races, it also allows candidates to roll over unused money to new campaign organizations for races. Source: Associated Press, January 30, 2005
##
Former Congressman Luther still spending campaign cash
Democrat Bill Luther hasn't held public office since 2002 and has not run since then, either.
Former Minnesota Rep. Bill Luther, out of office since 2002, accepted $12,500 in donations and generated $63,442 in bills for campaign office expenses, travel and gasoline the past two years, according to a published report.
The Democrat's spending is being questioned by Republicans and others who wonder how he could count the expenses as campaign costs when he mounted no campaign in 2003 or 2004, the Star Tribune reported Saturday.
"This situation clearly raises a lot of questions," said Larry Noble, former general counsel for the Federal Election Commission and now executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks election spending. "It's not only unusual, it could be illegal."
Said Randy Wanke, a spokesman for the state Republican Party: "Bill Luther is taking federal campaign finance laws for a ride."
The state GOP planned to challenge the campaign spending Luther reported since he filed federal candidacy papers in January 2003 -- two months after he lost his U.S. House seat to Republican Rep. John Kline.
Luther, who spent four terms in Congress and two decades in the state Legislature, told the newspaper the expenses reflect an ongoing process of winding down campaign activities after 28 years in public life.
"I have not been pursuing any kind of campaign," he said. "It's just a winding-down of expenses and campaign activities, liquidating property and stuff like that."
Others said Luther's activity could be legitimate if he genuinely had an eye on the 2004 U.S. House race in Minnesota's 2nd District -- where he filed as a candidate in 2003 -- or even if he was laying the groundwork for a future House or Senate race.
"It's reasonable to think he was considering it," said Amy Kauffman, director of Hudson Institute's Project on Campaign and Election Laws. "A lot of people who are in office and lose it want to go back, and they're just waiting for the right moment."
After Luther filed his statement of candidacy in January 2003, most political observers expected a rematch with Kline, who had unseated him in November 2002. At the time, however, Luther said he filed as a candidate only to "consider different options."
Noble said he believes that's not sufficient to justify Luther's campaign fund raising and spending.
Kauffman disputes that, noting that while federal law pegs contributions to specific races, it also allows candidates to roll over unused money to new campaign organizations for races. Source: Associated Press, January 30, 2005
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home