In a letter to the Minnesota Republican Party delivered today, the state campaign finance agency said it would consider a complaint against House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, a DFL candidate for governor, at its January 12 meeting.

The board meeting will be closed to the public, said the letter to the party.

The GOP last week asked the board to investigate whether Kelliher broke the law when her donors gave money to the DFL and she got credit for it in her payments for access to a database of voters.

According to campaign manager Jaime Tincher and DFL spokeswoman Kristin Sosanie, seven donors gave a total of $7,500 to the party and those contributions were used as Kelliher's payments. Kelliher has since paid for access to the database through her campaign funds and some of the contributions to the party were returned to donors.

Andy O'Leary, executive director of the DFL, had approved the arrangement in August. He said he was believed there was a previous opinion okaying such an arrangement.

But when a consultant for Rep. Tom Rukavina's DFL campaign for governor asked if Rukavina could get the same deal in December, state party officials said they realized the deal was a mistake.

When the situation became public last Friday, the Republican party filed a campaign finance complaint.

The plan to "consider this matter" does not necessarily mean Kelliher will be punished for the deal but does mean the board will at least look at whether the arrangement was legal.