Domingo Garcia sues FEC after his congressional campaign gets hit with five-figure fine
His dispute with the League of United Latin American Citizens now in the rear-view mirror, Domingo Garcia now has a new adversary: the Federal Election Commission.
According to a lawsuit filed in Dallas federal court Monday, the commission says that during his run for Congress in 2012 Garcia’s campaign didn’t file so-called 48-Hour Notices in the days leading up to the primary. FEC rules say that committees have to file “special notices regarding contributions of $1,000 or more received less than 20 days but more than 48 hours before 12:01 a.m. of the day of any election in which the candidate is running,” including loans a candidate makes to his own campaign. But Garcia’s treasurer, Swati Patel, failed to note that the candidate slipped himself a quarter million leading up to the May primary; Garcia even admits as much in court documents.
As a result, the commission hit Garcia’s campaign with a $15,200 civil penalty in February.
Garcia’s campaign spent a few months fighting the fine. But on May 23, the FEC sent Patel a final-determination letter, which said she and the campaign had a handful of choices, among them: Pay the penalty or sue in federal court. The former Dallas city council member and state representative has gone the latter route.
More at http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2013/06/domingo-garcia-sues-federal-election-commission-after-his-congressional-campaign-gets-hit-with-five-figure-fine.html/ .
[font color=green]Note for clarification: Garcia lost the Democratic primary election to Marc Veasey by less than 1,000 votes in a district that was designed to be a seat for a black representative.[/font]
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