Sen. DeMint's campaign fined

A Federal Election Commission audit of U.S. Sen Jim DeMint's 2004 run for office found two violations, and DeMint's campaign has agreed to pay a $25,000 penalty and to refund $5,000 in contributions given in excess of federal limits.

DeMint spokesman Wesley Denton said the campaign cooperated fully with the federal audit and is glad to have the issues resolved.

"After an exhaustive three-year year audit of the thousands of contributions received by the campaign, only 42 were found not to have the required paperwork, which triggered the fine," Denton said. "The FEC also acknowledged that out of over $10 million dollars raised, only $5,000 was required to be refunded."

The audit found two basic problems.

DeMint's campaign received 42 contributions in 2003 and 2004 that exceeded the $2,000 limit per election, and those exceeded the limit by $68,106. Of that, DeMint's campaign could redesignate $63,106 for future elections. It eventually did that but not within the 60-day window allowed under the law.

The second problem was the campaign didn't file notices within 48 hours as required for 67 contributions of $1,000 or more.

The 2004 Senate election was particularly heated after incumbent Democratic Sen. Fritz Hollings decided not to run again. DeMint bested Charleston developer Thomas Ravenel and other Republicans in a costly GOP primary battle, and he then prevailed over Democrat Inez Tenenbaum. All told, the candidates spent a record $24 million.

Denton said the heated race, and the new so-called "Millionaire's Amendment" in federal campaign finance law, contributed to the problems.

"FEC audits are becoming very common for winning Senate campaigns," Denton said in a statement. "Senator DeMint's 2004 campaign involved three separate cycles including a heavily contested primary, a heated runoff, and a nationally watched general election with millions spent on television airwaves in South Carolina. Each campaign cycle had separate contribution limits, and in some cases there were FEC reporting deadlines that conflicted with State certification dates."

DuBose Kapeluck, a political science professor at The Citadel, said the violations are at odds with DeMint's image as a fiscal-minded, good-government reformer, but he noted also that campaign finance law is so complicated that these violations probably won't hamper DeMint's 2010 re-election bid.

"This probably will be raised by his challenger, the Democrat who runs against him, but it's unlikely to find any traction that long away from now," Kapeluck said.

Reach Robert Behre at 937-5771 or rbehre@postandcourier.com.