The Republican Party of Minnesota was fined a total of more than $100,000 by the Federal Election Commission, recently released filings show.
Republican Party of Minnesota fined over $100,000 by FEC
The penalties stem from campaign finance violations during the 2018 and 2020 election cycles.
March 2, 2023 at 5:49PM
In the first situation, involving the 2018 election cycle, the party was fined $53,000. A signed agreement in the case said the state GOP "failed to maintain employee logs in the amount of $297,945" and that it "failed to maintain records in sufficient detail to verify that $712,662 in disbursements for communications made through 13 different vendors were accurately reported." The filing also detailed other violations.
An agreement from a 2020 election cycle case included a $58,500 fine, pointing to violations over "failing to timely and accurately report receipts and disbursements" and "accepting excessive contributions."
"The FEC fines were levied for events that occurred under the previous Chair's leadership, the details of which have been public knowledge for some time," Republican Party of Minnesota executive director Mike Lonergan said in an email late last month. "The MNGOP has fully addressed the findings of the audit. The 2020 fine has already been paid; the 2018 fine will be paid in March."
A campaign finance filing through the end of January showed the Minnesota GOP's federal account with around $3,000 in cash on hand but over $380,000 in debts and obligations.
Our mission this election cycle is to provide the facts and context you need. Here’s how we’ll do that.
