FEC - Federal Election Commission
11/08/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 11/08/2024 13:29
Week of November 4 – 8, 2024
Commission meetings and hearings
No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.
Enforcement
The Commission made public one closed case, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Enforcement Search System.
COMPLAINANTS: Salazar for Congress and Les Williamson, in his official capacity as treasurer, Freedom Force PAC and Les Williamson, in his official capacity as treasurer, and Salazar Victory Committee and Les Williamson, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committees)
RESPONDENT: Nancy Marks
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Marks failed to deposit the Committees' receipts into a campaign depository account and failed to report and incorrectly reported information regarding receipts, disbursements, and cash on hand. Rep. Maria E. Salazar was a 2022 candidate for reelection in Florida's 27th Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: The Commission found reason to believe that Marks in her personal capacity failed to deposit receipts into a campaign depository account and failed to report and incorrectly reported information regarding receipts, disbursements, and cash on hand. The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement without a civil penalty due to the mitigating circumstances presented by Marks regarding her financial condition. If evidence is uncovered indicating Marks is not experiencing a financial hardship as stated, a $36,000 civil penalty shall be immediately due.
Alternative Dispute Resolution
The Commission made public two closed cases, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Alternative Dispute Resolution Search System.
COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Lafazan for Congress and Alex Leibson, in official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: In the normal course of exercising its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether there was reason to believe the Committee failed to remedy excessive and prohibited 2022 primary and general election contributions, totaling $23,598, within the permissible timeframes, and whether the Committee received $2,600 in contributions designated for the 2022 general election that were not refunded within the permissible timeframe of the candidate's primary election loss.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to certify the closure of the Committee's federal account and work with Commission staff to terminate their political committee status and reporting obligations with the Commission, and to pay a civil penalty of $1,000.
COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Suozzi for Congress and Michael G. Norman, in official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: In the normal course of exercising its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether there was reason to believe the Committee failed to remedy excessive 2022 primary and general election contributions, totaling $44,605, within the permissible timeframe, and whether the Committee received $9,905 in contributions designated for the 2022 general election that were not refunded within the permissible timeframe from the candidate's withdrawal from the 2022 primary election.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to certify annually for two years that it continued to retain the vices of a compliance firm and to pay a civil penalty of $4,075.
Administrative Fines
The Commission made public 17 closed cases, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Administrative Fine Search System.
AF 4677 Amsted Industries Incorporated PAC and Tristan Paige Lopez, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $5,320.
AF 4678 Center Street PAC and Matthew O'Brien, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed no civil penalty.
AF 4679 For the Many PAC and Kina Collins, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed no civil penalty.
AF 4680 Friends of Ana Quezada for Congress and Satchell Terry, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $832.
AF 4681 Frontiers of Freedom Action, Inc. and George Landrith, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed no civil penalty.
AF 4682 Holly McCormack for Congress and Holly McCormack, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $33,596.
AF 4683 John Conyers for Congress and Office of Treasurer, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $8,354.
AF 4684 Kumar for Congress and Gary Tasser, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $5,743.
AF 4685 Local 1814 ILA Political Action and Education Fund and Frank Agosta, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $1,995.
AF 4686 Matt Leiv for Illinois and Office of Treasurer, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $415.
AF 4687 Phil Arballo for Congress and Paul Fausone, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $1,497.
AF 4688 Raja Chaudhry Campaign, Inc. and Leon Zeno, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $1,497.
AF 4690 Sharon Savage for Senate and Sharon Savage, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $1,112.
AF 4692 Werner Enterprises Inc Political Action Committee and Mark Matulka, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $551.
AF 4693 Women's March Win and Ginnyi Goldman, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $1,112.
AF 4736 Friends of Nikhil Bhatia and Tim Herbert, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $3,941.
AF 4774 McGuire for Virginia and Thomas Datwyler, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $3,584.
Regulations and agency procedures
REG 2024-08 (Untraceable Electronic Payment Methods) On November 7, the Commission made public a Draft Notification of Availability of Petition for Rulemaking submitted by Ken Paxton, Attorney General of Texas. The Petition asks the Commission to amend its regulations concerning the use of credit cards to make contributions, to address the potential use of prepaid cards to circumvent contribution amount limitations and source prohibitions.
Litigation
DCCC v. FEC (Case No. 24-2935) On November 1, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order denying Plaintiff's Motion for a Preliminary Injunction.
Outreach
On November 3, Vice Chair Ellen L. Weintraub participated in a panel discussion on U.S. campaign finance rules hosted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE PA) in Washington, DC.
On November 4, Commissioners Shana M. Broussard and Allen Dickerson addressed international election observers sponsored by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission and Good Governance Institute at FEC headquarters.
On November 4, Vice Chair Weintraub participated in a panel discussion on Money in Politics hosted by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) in Washington, DC.
On November 6, Vice Chair Weintraub discussed campaign finance disclosure rules and the role of the Commission with an Argentinian delegation visiting the United States as part of the Center or American Studies Foundation (CEA).
Press releases
District Court issues memorandum opinion, order in DCCC v. FEC (Case No. 24-2935) (issued November 4)
Employment opportunities
The Commission is accepting applications for the position of Associate General Counsel for Enforcement through November 12, 2024.
The Commission is accepting applications for the position of Assistant General Counsel for Administrative Law through November 22, 2024.
The Commission is accepting applications for the position of Attorney-Adviser (Administrative Law) through November 30, 2024.
Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings
November 13, 2024: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.
November 14, 2024: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.
December 10, 2024: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.
December 12, 2024: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.
Upcoming educational opportunities
November 20, 2024: The Commission is scheduled to host a webinar on Winding Down the Campaign and Post-General Reporting.
For more information on upcoming training opportunities, see the Commission's Trainings page.
Upcoming reporting due dates
December 5: 30-Day Post-General Reports are due. For more information, see the 2024 Pre- and Post-General Reporting schedule.
Additional research materials
Election Dates. The Commission has posted 2024 Presidential and Congressional Primary Dates, which are subject to change.
Contribution Limits. In addition to the current limits, the Commission has posted an archive of contribution limits that were in effect going back to the 1975-1976 election cycles.
Federal Elections 2020: Election Results for the U.S. President, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives is available. The data was compiled from the official vote totals published by state election offices.
FEC Notify : Want to be notified by email when campaign finance reports are received by the agency? Sign up here.
The Combined Federal State Disclosure and Election Directory is available. This publication identifies the federal and state agencies responsible for the disclosure of campaign finances, lobbying, personal finances, public financing, candidates on the ballot, election results, spending on state initiatives and other financial filings.
The Presidential Election Campaign Fund Tax Checkoff Chart provides information on balance of the Fund, monthly deposits into the Fund reported by the Department of the Treasury, payments from the Fund as certified by the FEC, and participation rates of taxpayers as reported by the Internal Revenue Service. For more information on the Presidential Public Funding Program, see the Public Funding of Presidential Elections page.
The FEC Record is available as a continuously updated online news source.
Other election-related resources
Videos on protecting U.S. elections. The FBI's Protected Voices initiative provides videos designed to help political campaigns protect themselves from foreign influence. The 2019 videos offer guidance on ransomware, business email compromise, supply chain, social media literacy, and foreign influence operations. Other videos, released in 2018, include cyber hygiene topics such as social engineering, patching, router hardening, and app and browser safety.
Join the FEC on X and YouTube
Follow @FEC on X to receive the latest information on agency updates, news releases, and weekly activity. Subscribe to our YouTube channel, FECTube: FECConnect on Demand, to watch instructional videos that have been designed to help candidates and committees comply with federal campaign finance laws. Note that the FEC is not currently available through other social media platforms. The use of the agency's logo, name, and likeness on other media has not been authorized by the FEC.