Do-Nothing Board Becomes Do-Little Board for a Day

Elections Board lets half of rich donors off the hook, while other half get slap on the wrist

July 30, 2003

Madison - The state Elections Board today fined 19 wealthy donors and an ex-governor for making or accepting illegal campaign contributions in response to complaints filed by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.

The board levied fines totaling $7,761 against the donors and former Governor Scott McCallum (Table), and ruled that another contributor - Mary Kelly - violated the law but voted only to issue a "letter of admonition" as punishment. Over 20 other donors were let off the hook. The Democracy Campaign filed 43 complaints in May against major donors and McCallum.

The board could have assessed fines totaling nearly $317,000 or even pursued criminal penalties of up to six months in prison.

"The board went to extreme lengths to let as many of the donors off the hook as possible," WDC executive director Mike McCabe said. "But they couldn’t find a way to give them all the benefit of the doubt, so they gave the rest a slap on the wrist."

The board ignored its own policy regarding splitting campaign contributions among spouses when it ruled that 17 donors who violated the $10,000 annual limit on contributions could reallocate a portion of their donations to their spouses to bring them under the limit. That ruling also runs contrary to a 1999 state appeals court ruling that campaign contributions made from joint accounts are made by an individual - not a couple - from his or her portion of those shared funds.

It is unclear how the board’s ruling allowing donations to be reallocated to a spouse applies to at least one donor, Diane Hendricks. Hendricks made a $10,000 contribution to McCallum in 2002, but a portion of the donation cannot be reallocated to her husband because he had already given the maximum amount allowable to McCallum for the election cycle. The rest of Hendricks’ 2002 contributions were made through a conduit established in her name alone. She alone was empowered to authorize the conduit to send the money to the legislative campaigns that received the donations.

"In order to go easy on these donors the board had to overlook its own policy, ignore a state appeals court ruling and pretend not to notice that at least in one case the ploy they use to get a donor under the legal limit pushes her husband over the limit," McCabe said.

He added that the board’s actions are another illustration of why Senate Bill 11, which reforms the structure of the Elections Board and Ethics Board, needs to be enacted.

"The Elections Board is made up of the appointees of people who want to keep their big donors happy. It is a classic example of the fox guarding the chicken coop," McCabe said.

The board is comprised of political appointees chosen by the Democratic and Republican leaders in the Legislature, the governor, Supreme Court chief justice and the state Democratic, Republican and Libertarian parties, most of whom benefited from large individual donations made by the accused violators during the election year.