Mark Foley donates more than $80K to charity as campaign account wind-down continues

foley, mark
Foley also donated to a handful of GOP politicos, according to the latest FEC reports.

Former GOP Rep. Mark Foley is sending another $82,000 to charitable causes as he works to close his congressional campaign account.

The latest filings with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) show Foley spending nearly $90,000 in total from July 1 to Sept. 30. In addition to the charitable donations, Foley also gave $5,000 to the Palm Beach County Republican Party and a handful of donations to local candidates.

Foley’s contributions were first noted by Dave Levinthal of Business Insider.

The largest single sum Foley donated during the third quarter was $25,000 he gave to the Indian River State College Foundation for scholarship funds. That facility is in Fort Pierce, about an hour north of Palm Beach.

Foley’s account, “Friends of Mark Foley for Congress,” also sent $10,000 each to Adopt A Family in Lake Worth, the Homeless Coalition of Palm Beach County, and the Treasure Coast Food Bank.

Foley’s account still holds nearly $584,000 as of Sept. 30, according to the FEC. He has donated around two-thirds of the $1.7 million his account had remaining when he left Congress in 2006.

Foley has picked up the pace in dumping cash from the account after he announced this past June he would work to close his account for good. Foley previously said he was keeping that fund open for a potential congressional run once reapportionment occurs after the 2020 Census. That no longer appears to be the case.

Foley represented parts of Palm Beach County when he served in the U.S. House. He resigned in 2006 after sending sexually suggestive messages to a former congressional page living in California.

In 2018, the FEC announced it would increase reviews of so-called “zombie” campaign accounts. Last year, Foley was one of 50 campaigns to receive an FEC request about whether their respective accounts were truly “winding down.” That prompted Foley to begin shutting down the account, donating the bulk of the money to charity.

He did send a small fraction of his remaining cash to political causes. In addition to shipping $5,000 to the local Republican Party, Foley’s account also shipped $500 each to Brian Norton‘s Senate District 29 bid, as well as Rick Roth in House District 85 and Sayd Hussein in House District 91.

Ryan Nicol

Ryan Nicol covers news out of South Florida for Florida Politics. Ryan is a native Floridian who attended undergrad at Nova Southeastern University before moving on to law school at Florida State. After graduating with a law degree he moved into the news industry, working in TV News as a writer and producer, along with some freelance writing work. If you'd like to contact him, send an email to [email protected].


2 comments

  • Sonja Fitch

    October 12, 2020 at 5:19 pm

    It is ashamed that Foley didn’t do these good deeds as a politician ! Makes your heart feel good doesn’t it sir?!

  • Nona Tillman's Friend

    October 13, 2020 at 6:59 am

    Hey Mark, do you still ride your bike through Dhraher Park, visiting all of the bathrooms?

Comments are closed.


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