Bureau of Elections fines Dawson campaign twice for late filing reports
MIDLAND, Mich. — The Michigan Bureau of Elections has twice fined the campaign of Matt Dawson for late campaign finance report filings. Mr. Dawson is the Democratic candidate for the state House of Representatives in the newly created 95th District and serves as his campaign’s own treasurer.
The Michigan Campaign Finance Act mandates that the bureau assess late filing fees for each business day a statement remains unfiled. Mr. Dawson’s campaign filed its pre-primary statement on July 25 while it was due on July 22. The bureau assessed Mr. Dawson’s campaign a fine of $25.
The post-primary campaign finance report was due on Sept. 1, but Mr. Dawson’s campaign filed it on Sept. 12, according to the bureau. The campaign was fined another $150.
“It’s my first time filing these reports and I’m primarily a Mac guy (they only make the software for PCs), so I screwed up a couple things and had issues getting them in,” Mr. Dawson told the City Paper. “The notices [are] being addressed and [the] computer issues have thankfully been resolved so this won’t be an issue again.”
Mr. Dawson has spoken out publicly when it comes to money in politics, criticizing his opponent for raising so much money in the race. He is facing Republican Bill G. Schuette in the November election.
“Wish I could resign from my well paying job at Dow to ‘run’ a campaign. I say ‘run’ because there’s no way he doesn’t have a team on a payroll running everything while he just shows up,” Mr. Dawson wrote in July in response to Mr. Schuette raising a staggering $186,452 for the pre-primary campaign finance period.
In July, Mr. Schuette’s campaign had two paid staffers, Amanda Oster and Jeffrey Ramsey, who were paid $500 and $1,000 per month, respectively, during the reporting period.
Mr. Dawson’s campaign had $2,099.21 in cash-on-hand, according to the post-primary campaign finance report. Mr. Schuette’s campaign had $7,587.50 in cash-on-hand for the same period.
“Proud to have filed all of my campaign finance reports on-time and accurately,” Mr. Schuette told the City Paper. “That is the same type of accountability and transparency I’ll bring to the office in Lansing.”
Michael Westendorf is the chairman and executive editor of Chemical City Paper. As Executive Editor, he leads the City Paper’s news coverage and editorial team.