The legalities of the Kelliher flap

By Pat Doyle and Rachel E. Stassen-Berger

The legal ramifications of a campaign finance arrangement which allowed House Speaker and DFL candidate for governor Margaret Anderson Kelliher to benefit from donors' contributions to the DFL party are unclear.

According to Kelliher campaign manager Jaime Tincher and DFL spokeswoman Kristin Sosanie, seven donors gave a total of $7,500 to the party, which was in turn credited to Kelliher's fee for access to the party's voter database.

Last week, it was clear only that three donors contributed $1,500 through the deal, which was stopped in December after the party realized it could violate campaign finance laws. This week it came out that there were an additional four donors, whose contributed $6,000 contributions.

The Minnesota Republican Party filed a formal complaint with the state campaign finance board last Friday. That same day, the Kelliher campaign told the board about the situation, which it called a "possible violation of state campaign finance law." The DFL wrote a letter to the board about the arrangement Monday.

Each of the three original donors wrote $500 checks to the DFL party. Their contributions may have run afoul of state law by exceeding dollar limits on individual contributions and violating prohibitions against earmarking donations. By helping offset Kelliher's expense for a party voter database, the donors could have effectively exceeded limits on their contributions to her campaign.

The law presumes most donors rely on campaigns for advice and typically doesn't penalize contributors for mistakes, said Gary Goldsmith, the executive director of the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board. However, lobbyists and political actions committees can be held to a higher standard. One of the three original donors is a lobbyist.

Four donations that went to the DFL party at Kelliher's request may have been legal because they weren't earmarked for her use. The party offered to return those checks as well but the four refused, DFL executive director Andy O'Leary said in a letter to the campaign finance board, because "they were not expecting that the party would use their contribution in any particular way."

For instance, lobbyist Ted Grindal said Tuesday that he gave $1,000 to the DFL party at Kelliher's urging but it was for general party expenses and not directed for her use. "It was without any strings attached," he said.
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Joanne Strakosch, who also gave the party $1,000 that was credited to Kelliher, said her donation "was not any different" than others she's given to the DFL. Strakosch said Kelliher asked her for the contribution for the party but she didn't know that Kelliher's gubernatorial campaign would benefit from the gift.

She has separately maxed out her donations to Kelliher, whose campaign she supports.