GOP files complaint against Rybak

In a complaint to the state campaign finance board Tuesday, the Minnesota Republican Party claimed that Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, a DFL gubernatorial candidate, illegally used his mayoral campaign fund to buy a DFL database for his gubernatorial campaign.

State Republican Party Chairman Tony Sutton said Rybak's spending "didn't pass the smell test," but Rybak's campaign manager said it was much ado about nothing.

The complaint is one of a series of campaign finance dustups in the crowded, competitive race.

It is the GOP's second complaint against Rybak. The campaign finance board found last year that Rybak used $26,500 in mayoral campaign funds to benefit his state campaign and required him to debit his campaign for governor.

The complaint says Rybak's database access purchase early last year was part of a "scheme to deliberately circumvent" campaign finance laws by using a local campaign operation to fuel a statewide run. Any explanation to the contrary lacks credibility, the complaint said.

Tuesday's complaint is the second quarrel over the DFL's valuable database of voter information. Earlier this year, the campaign board fined DFL gubernatorial candidate Margaret Anderson Kelliher and the party over payments for the database that regulators believed sidestepped fundraising limits.

Rybak campaign manager Tina Smith said Rybak's spending has been legal.

She said the mayoral campaign paid $13,000 for the DFL's statewide voter database last year for "legitimate campaign purposes, including fundraising" for his reelection effort. Later in 2009, Rybak began paying for the database again, using money from his gubernatorial committee so he could access it for his statewide run. According to public records, Rybak's campaign for governor paid the party $2,000 in December. Smith said the campaign has made other payments since and expects to be fully paid up by the end of April.

Rybak isn't the only DFL gubernatorial candidate to make dual payments. State Sen. Tom Bakk paid the DFL a full $13,000 twice -- from his now-defunct Senate campaign fund, and again in December from his gubernatorial campaign. Bakk said the first payment should have sufficed but, after questions over Kelliher's access, he paid again to make sure he was "taking zero chances."

There are different standard payments, based on different levels of access to the DFL database. A few hundred dollars buys a candidate access to information about voters from a small geographic area. It costs $13,000 to access information about voters from the entire state.