Florida GOP to appeal $110,000 fine tied to campaign finances

The head of the Republican Party of Florida, Blaise Ingoglia, is appealing $110,000 in fines the party accrued for not filing state campaign finance reports on time for the House District 116 Special Election.

State Rep. Daniel Perez won the seat and filed his report on time detailing $30,950 in contributions from the party, which included polling, research and one campaign staffer. But the Party failed to submit its report to the Division of Elections when it was due on Sept. 22.

The state’s Party claims it did not receive any notification from the Division of Elections that it had not yet filed its report, and that they only became aware of the mistake 11 days after the deadline, when $110,000 in fines had been accumulated.

For state executive committees, the penalty for failing to submit campaign finance reports after the special election has taken place jumps up to $10,000 a day.

“Providing public access to campaign finance information prior to an election is important,” Benjamin Gibson, the counsel for the state’s party, said. “The current instance, though, is not a case where the public was deprived of information prior to the special election, or where the act of omission was intentional.”

A hearing on this case will be held before the Florida Elections Commission on Nov. 28 at the Capitol.