Thursday, 4:30 PM
Patrick campaign returns nearly $52K in excess contributions
By Globe Staff
Governor Deval Patrick's campaign announced today that it was returning $51,941 in excess contributions, saying it hadn't noticed that some people were giving too much because of the high volume of contributions it had received.
Contributors are allowed to give only $500 a year. When a campaign receives more than that, it must return the money. The Patrick campaign said it was returning money to 169 individuals.
"It is a priority of this office to continue to maintain open, transparent, and accurate compliance," campaign executive director Liz Morningstar said in a letter notifying state campaign finance regulators of the excess contributions.
Denis Kennedy, a spokesman for the Office of Campaign and Political Finance, said he hadn't seen the letter so he couldn't comment on it specifically.
In general, he said, it's not uncommon for a large statewide campaign to have excess contributions.
OCPF performs its own audits of campaigns' finances and "we often see excess contributions that a committee may have missed," he said.
"It's great, of course, if a committee along the way is doing this," he said.
