3 fined for Clean Elections violation

Election regulators voted Thursday to fine three Republican candidates for the Arizona Corporation Commission a total of about $29,000 for misusing public money during the primary election.

All five members of the Citizens Clean Elections Commission voted there was reason to believe that candidates Bob Stump, Bob Burns and Susan Bitter-Smith violated election laws. But they disagreed on what the financial penalty should be.

With two commissioners, Louis Hoffman and Thomas Koester, abstaining, the other three voted to approve an offer that the Republicans made earlier in the week. The deal calls for them to return $9,617.50 each by Monday to the Citizens Clean Elections Commission.

They will return the money from the $137,800 in public funds each of them received to spend on the general election.

The Democratic Party filed a complaint that said the mailers Republicans sent during the primary election violated the law, which requires public money given to candidates during the primary election be used only for the primary. The law specifies that any leftover funds must be returned to the public before general-election campaigning begins.

With three open seats on the five-member commission this election cycle, both parties are running three candidates. That meant neither party faced opposition in the primary.

Each of the six candidates received nearly $92,000 to spend on primary campaigns.

The Republicans used $230,000 of their combined funds to print and mail brochures that attacked the Democrats they face in the general election.

Republicans disputed that their mailers violated the rules, which apply to candidates who don't finance their own campaigns and instead use public money. But they agreed to return some of the money to put the matter behind them.

Instead of returning all of the money spent on the fliers, they agreed to pay back the amount it cost to mail the brochures to independent voters.

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