AUGUSTA (WGME) — The Maine Ethics Commission voted Monday morning to fine Bobby Charles’ campaign for governor for violating campaign finance contribution limits.
The state imposes a per-donor limit on contributions to gubernatorial candidates set at $2,075.
The Charles campaign reportedly accepted about $45,000 more than that limit per donor.
An attorney representing the Maine Democratic Party, which filed the initial complaint, called it one of the most serious violations she has ever seen.
“This is in my mind, and I’ve been doing this for a long time, one of the most egregious violations I’ve seen, and it’s astonishing, because it’s so simple that it doesn’t happen,” said Maine Democratic Party adviser Katherine Knox.
A lawyer for the Charles campaign did not deny accepting the contributions, but claimed that all contributions were returned and that his campaign finance reports were altered.
The commission decided to fine the Charles campaign approximately $22,000 for the violation.
The Charles campaign released a statement Monday regarding the decision.
“Earlier this month, the Maine Ethics Commission informed our campaign that some contributions had exceeded the state’s per-donor limit. This was an administrative error. As soon as we became aware of it, we worked in good faith with Commission staff, returned the excess contributions and corrected our reports.
We would have preferred a different outcome, but we respect the Commission’s process.
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