Scott Powers
Saying that a newbie mistake had been made, Democratic candidate Clark Anderson indicated Monday morning he will refund a $2,000 donation made to his Florida House District 30 campaign by his wife Mari-Jean Anderson, and file an amendment to his January campaign finance report.
The $2,000 donation showed up in the finance report posted Friday for Anderson’s HD 30 campaign. State law limits donations to house candidates’ campaigns to just $1,000, and there are no exceptions for spouses, Mark Ard, spokesman for the Florida Secretary of State Office said in an email.
Mari-Jean Anderson also is listed as treasurer for Clark Anderson’s campaign.
“We’re new at the whole system. I’ll return the donation money from the campaign immediately and put in an amended filing,” Clark Anderson stated in an email Monday morning after being advised of the violation.
Anderson, of Winter Park, is running against Republican incumbent state Rep, Bob Cortes of Atlamonte Springs.
Anderson’s January filing, the first to show any campaign finance activity since he entered the contest in late November, showed a $10,000 loan he made to his campaign, plus the $2,000 from Mari-Jean Anderson. It gave him a balance of $12,000 at the end of January.
Cortes meanwhile reported raising $12,030 in January, bringing his re-election campaign’s fundraising total to $88,915. Cortes finished January with about $79,000 in the bank.
