For Immediate Release |
Contact: |
Bob Biersack |
December 20, 2007 |
| George Smaragdis |
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Michelle Ryan |
FEC To Collect $74,500 in West Virginia Senate Millionaire’s Amendment Case
Washington – The Federal Election Commission (FEC/Commission) announced today that John Reeves Raese, a Senate candidate from West Virginia in 2006, and his campaign committee, Raese for Senate Committee, agreed to pay a $74,500 civil penalty for failing to file timely and accurate disclosure reports required for candidates who spend significant personal funds in their campaigns.
Under the Federal Election Campaign Act (the Act) and FEC regulations, a 2006 Senate candidate in West Virginia who spent personal funds in excess of $414,720 was required to file certain notifications within 24 hours with the Commission, the Secretary of the Senate, and each candidate in the same election. Thereafter, the candidate and committee were required to file an additional report each time the candidate spent more than $10,000 in additional personal funds. The Act requires that candidates ensure that their principal campaign committees file all reports required by these provisions in a timely manner.
Between January 31, 2006, and April 11, 2006, Mr. Raese expended $355,000 in personal funds for his campaign. On April 19, 2006, Mr. Raese made a $70,000 loan to the Committee, increasing his total personal expenditures to $425,000. Having exceeded the $414,720 threshold, the Committee and candidate were required to file FEC Form 10 within 24 hours with the Commission and with Mr. Raese’s opponents. On April 27, 2006, Mr. Raese made an additional $100,000 loan to the Committee and failed to file a Form 10 within 24 hours. On May 3, 2006, Mr. Raese made an $80,000 loan to the Committee and filed his first FEC Form 10 disclosing the April 19, April 27 and May 3 loans. The notification was thirteen days late with respect to the April 19 loan and five days late with respect to the April 27 loan.
In the conciliation agreement, Mr. Raese and Raese for Senate admit to the violations discussed above and agree to pay a $74,500 civil penalty within 30 days and to cease and desist from committing any such future violations.
This release contains only summary information. For additional details, please consult publicly available documents for each case in the Enforcement Query System (EQS) on the FEC website at http://eqs.fec.gov/eqs/searcheqs.
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MUR 5888 |
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RESPONDENTS: |
Raese for Senate Committee and James Troy, in his official capacity as treasurer |
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COMPLAINANT: |
FEC Initiated (RAD) and Mathew Miller, treasurer of Lewis for Senate, Inc. |
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SUBJECT: |
Failure to file timely and accurate disclosure reports required by the Millionaire’s Amendment |
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DISPOSITION: |
Conciliation agreement: $74,500 civil penalty |
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DOCUMENTS ON PUBLIC RECORD: |
Documents from this matter are available from the Commission’s web site at http://www.fec.gov by entering 5888 under case numbers in the Enforcement Query System. They are also available in the FEC’s Public Records Office at 999 E St. NW in Washington. |
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The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent regulatory agency that administers and enforces federal campaign finance laws. The FEC has jurisdiction over the financing of campaigns for the U.S. House, the U.S. Senate, the Presidency and the Vice Presidency. Established in 1975, the FEC is composed of six Commissioners who are nominated by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
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