COLUMBIANA CO. GOP pays fine over Halleck donation

The contribution exceeded the federal limit by $7,000.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
SALEM -- The Columbiana County Republican Party paid a $500 fine to the Federal Election Commission for giving an improper campaign contribution to a congressional candidate.
"There are so many election rules and regulations [that] it's hard to keep track of them, but an error was made," said Jerry J. Ward, the party's chairman.
The party contributed $8,000 on June 25, 2002, to the campaign of Michael Halleck of Salem, the Republican candidate defeated in the 6th Congressional District race by U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland, a Lisbon Democrat, in November.
Because it is not classified as a federal political action committee, the Columbiana Republicans can contribute only $1,000 per election cycle to a congressional candidate under FEC rules.
The Vindicator reported July 16, 2002, that the contribution was $7,000 over the allowable FEC limit, and that the federal agency would require Halleck to return that amount when they discovered the problem.
The FEC sent letters to Halleck telling him the contribution was over the allowable amount after receiving a complaint from Margaret Cartier of Washington, D.C., a Strickland campaign volunteer.
"No one's perfect and everyone makes mistakes," Strickland said. "We try really hard to observe the rules and we feel everyone should do that as well. It was a fairly obvious and fairly significant issue in terms of the amount."
Returned money
Halleck returned $7,000 of the contribution to the Columbiana Republicans on Oct. 17, after Cartier filed a complaint with the FEC.
"I wasn't fined and they shouldn't have been either," Halleck said. "We sent the money back. The FEC was a bit shallow in all of this. It's not a crime and it's not a reflection on my campaign. When your own party sends you a contribution, you think you can accept it. Nothing underhanded happened."
Ward acknowledges his party made a mistake and because it happened under his watch as chairman, he agreed to contribute $500 to the party that was used to pay the fine.
"Consequently, the party's not hurt," Ward said.
Columbiana wasn't the only county Republican Party to give an excessive contribution to Halleck's campaign.
Gallia County GOP
The Gallia County Republican Party's Century Club gave $2,500 to Halleck's campaign Oct. 14, and Halleck returned $1,500 of it Nov. 14 because the contribution was over the $1,000 limit.
"When they gave me the money, I said that it was very generous and I referred to the Columbiana County problem," Halleck said. "I asked if they had a PAC number, and they said they did. It turned out they had a state PAC number and not a federal one. They had never been involved in federal campaigns before and didn't know they also needed a federal PAC number."
Halleck also had to refund $695 to Deborah F. Benyo of Canfield, who gave his campaign $1,695. An individual can contribute only $1,000 per election cycle to a congressional candidate.
Cartier filed a complaint only over the Columbiana Republican Party's contribution to Halleck.
skolnick@vindy.com