Colorado Secretary of State's Office finds Republican Gubernatorial nominee Victor Marx broke campaign finance law
The Colorado Secretary of State's Office says the Republican gubernatorial nominee Victor Marx's campaign received nearly 200 illegal campaign contributions during the primary election.
Campaign finance law caps individual donations at $1,450 to reduce the outsized influence of wealthy donors and prevent quid pro quo corruption.
The Election Division received complaints alleging the Marx Campaign had repeatedly violated the law. It launched an investigation and found the campaign accepted 197 illegal contributions totaling more than $78,000 over the limit. It says he also accepted another $1,000 in illegal cash donations.
Darcy Schoening filed the complaints against the campaign. She says Marx may have won the primary, but he did so by cheating, stating, "His infractions are serious."
Marx beat State Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer by less than 2,500 votes.
Schoening says $78,000 can make a difference in a close race: "That's a mailer to several major cities. That's a text message to over 100,000 people, and those things impact a campaign."
The Election Division says while the Marx Campaign said it would refund the donations, it hasn't provided sufficient evidence it's followed through.
Former Deputy Secretary of State Suzanne Taheri says the campaign could face steep fines, "He's going back to the same people and continuing to collect more money over the limit, even after complaints were filed."
The Election Division referred the case to a hearing officer who has thirty days to dismiss the complaint, settle with the campaign, or set a hearing. Penalties could run as high as $400,000, which is more money than Marx has in the bank.
"It'll be interesting to see what the Secretary of State does because it kind of sets a tone for future elections," says Schoening. "How much are they willing to tolerate and how quickly are they going to hold people accountable?"
In addition to fines, Marx could face criminal prosecution. Schoening has asked the Attorney General and Denver District Attorney to investigate whether the campaign also used fake donors to hide large illegal contributions. If it did, Marx could be charged with everything from fraud to perjury.
The campaign released a statement saying, "We're aware of the Elections Division's filing and are working directly with the Secretary of State's office to address the matter through the established process. Campaign finance compliance is something we take seriously, and we are cooperating fully to resolve any outstanding questions. Because this is an active administrative matter, we don't believe it's appropriate to litigate the details through the media while that process is ongoing. If any corrections or additional filings are required, we'll make them through the proper legal and regulatory channels."
