Foley Hits Back at Democrats’ Accusations of Campaign Malpractice

The gubernatorial race is heating up, even though elections aren’t til November. On the same day Tom Foley released his first campaign ad in the GOP primary race for governor, The Democratic State Central Committee accused Foley of breaking campaign regulations.

The State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC) sets limits on spending for publicly-funded candidates for governor. Campaign expenditures are capped at $250,000, or $270,000 including personal funds, the Connecticut News reports.

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In a six-page complaint filed Monday the Democrats claim that Foley’s campaign didn’t have the funds for the ad buy, the Connecticut Mirror reports. Foley’s financial reports show no outgoing costs to Doug McAuliffe Creative + Strategic, who produced the ad.

“We know Tom Foley has been cavalier in his fundraising, reckless in his filings, and incompetent in his organizational management, so this blatant campaign finance violation should come as no surprise. He’s trying to circumvent the rules,” state Democratic Party spokesman Devon Puglia said in the statement. “Tom Foley belittled the public finance system when he was a self-funded candidate in 2010. Now, he’s breaking the law – and taxpayer dollars are at stake. With such gross violations, he has shown he is unfit to be governor.”

Foley’s campaign staff replied via a statement on the campaign’s website. “We are confident we have been and remain compliant with the SEEC rules and regulations,” it reads.

“The filing by the Democratic State Central Committee is one more attempt by Governor Malloy and his surrogates to distract attention from the woeful record Malloy has compiled as governor — a record that includes one of the worst job recovery rates of any state in the nation, spending that remains out of control despite a record-setting tax hike of $1.5 billion, a CNBC ranking as the fifth worst state for doing business in the country, the highest debt per capita in the nation, and a looming billion dollar state budget deficit.”

Read the full story at The Connecticut News.