More on Senator Martinez's Spending

Following up on this post, a reader sends along the following comments:

That Miami Herald article is extremely misleading. A candidate is allowed to keep the funds that he has obtained for the Primary election up until the date that he announces he is no longer seeking re-election. At that point, any General election contributions received must be returned, and any primary funds received after that date must be returned. Any funds for the Primary accepted before that point can be kept and used in a way that is consistent with 11 CFR 113.2. That Miami Herald article says nothing about that provision, and instead sounds like a "Gotcha" article that comes across as very misleading with regards to what Senator Martinez is doing with his campaign funds.

That said, one would think that Ms. Watkins would have said something to that effect instead of the (what come across as defensive) comments regarding personal use of campaign funds.

Finally, in order to terminate the Senator's committee, it must first dispose of the cash that is has remaining, which is listed at $456,220 as of the July Quarterly Report. The committee is entitled to use the money on hand to fulfill any remaining obligations, as well as any winding down costs of the committee (such as paying employees, rent/utilities, etc. that are incurred during the normal course of business).

Just my two cents.

Posted by Rick Hasen at August 12, 2009 08:26 AM