Legislative Candidate Vows To Fight Fine Lewiston Attorney Fined $100 For Violation Of Campaign Reporting Requirement

An unsuccessful candidate for the Legislature in the last election says he will fight rather than pay a $100 fine to the state for a campaign finance reporting violation.

Lewiston attorney John Bradbury lost to Republican Rep. Dan Mader, R-Genesee, in the last election.

The state found Bradbury and 23 other legislative candidates violated the Idaho Sunshine Law’s requirement to report contributions of more than $1,000 within 48 hours, when they are made within the last 16 days of the election.

All the others have paid amounts ranging from $50 to $150. Bradbury says he will not. Deputy Attorney General William von Tagen says Bradbury could be exposing himself to a fine of up to $50 per day for filing incorrect reports.

That could lead to a fine up to $7,500, since it has been more than 150 days since the campaign finance reports were filed.

Bradbury said von Tagen offered to settle for a $100 penalty. But in a letter to the state this week, Bradbury said he felt the only way he can get his complaints heard is to present them to a judge.

The Idaho Democratic Party’s $2,861 contribution to Bradbury is the bone of contention. Bradbury contends he didn’t violate the law because the contribution was noncash, in-kind and made earlier than 16 days before the election.

In a recent letter to von Tagen, Bradbury’s campaign treasurer, Susan Cook, said the candidate received the state party’s donation Oct. 30.

Von Tagen said if Bradbury believes his report for Oct. 29-Dec. 5 is incorrect, his report for Oct. 1-20 also must be inaccurate.

Bradbury said his week his campaign reported every contribution it received when it knew about the donation. He called von Tagen’s letter to him “outrageous.”