Complaint filed against Bean, Stargel over 2022 congressional race campaign finances

A complaint has been filed against U.S. Rep. Aaron Bean and former Florida Sen. Kelli Stargel alleging they each violated federal campaign finance law by transferring at least $1 million from state campaign funds to federal super PACs during the 2022 congressional elections.

The Campaign Legal Center filed the complaint against each candidate on Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission, and an additional complaint against Bean with the Office of Congressional Ethics.

Federal candidates, and those who represent them, are prohibited from using funds raised by state PACs that are not subject to federal contribution limits to support campaigns for federal office.

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The CLC, a non-partisan campaign watchdog organization, filed a similar complaint against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis earlier this year over an $82.5 million transfer in state campaign funds to Never Back Down Inc., the federal third-party super PAC primarily supporting his presidential campaign.

“Federal candidates are increasingly funneling 'soft money' raised through state PACs into federal committees, in direct violation of the law,” CLS's Director of Federal Campaign Finance Reform Saurav Ghosh said. “The actions of Kelli Stargel and Rep. Aaron Bean are part of a widespread pattern of federal candidates blatantly violating these laws, which are designed to ensure that our federal campaign finance system is fair, free from corruption, and transparent.”

The organization claims the two politicians raised millions of dollars through their respective state PACs, but transferred $1 million, or more, in those funds to federal super PACs during the 2022 election cycle. They also claim that both state PACs received over six figures worth of contributions from federal contractors, which are prohibited from contributing to federal campaigns or super PACs.

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The CLC claims Bean transferred over $1.1 million from the Florida Conservative Alliance state PAC to the Keep Florida Red PAC, a federal super PAC that exclusively supported his 2022 congressional campaign. The PAC spent $963,000 during that election, according to the complaint.

“Congressman Bean has fully complied with the law and the FEC already rejected this same partisan attack from CLC against another Florida Republican," Bean's campaign spokesperson Sarah Bascom said.

The organization also claims Stargel made a similar maneuver, and transferred $1 million from the Stronger Florida Political Committee state PAC to the Conservative Warriors PAC, a federal super PAC that spent most of it's funds on Stargels 2022 candidacy, according to the complaint.

"I just found out about it," Stargel said. "So from that aspect I don't have a whole lot of comment. We went to great lengths to make sure that we followed the law during my campaign. I would be shocked if it has any merit, because we followed the law."

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Complaint filed against Bean, Stargel over 2022 campaign finances