GOP Objects to Financing for 2 Bentsen Campaigns

Republican officials said Monday that $46 million in federal campaign money for Democrats Michael S. Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen should be held up on grounds there is a built-in conflict in the financing of Bentsen’s dual campaigns for the vice presidency and the Senate.

A spokeswoman for the Federal Election Commission, Sharon Snyder, said: “This will probably add some time to the deliberative process” that must be completed before the money is released. She said there probably would be a ruling on the complaint within 10 days.

Bentsen is expected to spend more than $4 million on his Senate reelection campaign in Texas at the same time he is running for vice president on the ticket with Dukakis, said Jann Olsten, executive director of the GOP Senate campaign committee.

Unprecedented Question

An unusual Texas law permits Bentsen to seek both the Senate seat and the vice presidency simultaneously, raising an unprecedented question for the Federal Election Commission.

“There is no denying that one (race) is going to impact the other,” Olsten said at a news conference. “A dollar spent by Sen. Bentsen in Texas, whether for the Senate or the vice presidential campaign, is going to directly and immediately benefit both. . . . It just isn’t fair.”

The 1976 law that created public financing for presidential campaigns stipulates that candidates who receive the federal money cannot accept private funds for their campaigns. The $46 million each for the Democratic and Republican tickets comes from a $1 check-off on individual income tax returns.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee, in a complaint filed Friday with the FEC, asked that the government withhold the federal campaign funds until it either bars the spending of Bentsen’s Senate campaign chest or determines to count any Senate campaign spending against the $46-million limit.

Bentsen Opponent

“Dukakis says he will not tolerate any violations of the law by his associates,” said Bentsen’s Senate opponent, Rep. Beau Boulter (R-Tex.), in a statement at a Houston news conference.

“Well, he’s got an early opportunity to prove that statement. Because based on statements by the Bentsen campaign, it is clear that they are going to try and circumvent FEC law.”

Bentsen spokesman Jack DeVore said Bentsen’s legal advisers had researched the issue and believed there was no problem with conducting and financing both campaigns. He said the GOP was trying to win a free ride for Boulter.

“They know the Bentsen Senate campaign would help the national ticket whether Sen. Bentsen was part of the ticket or not,” DeVore said. “What they’re really saying is they’re scared silly.”

Bentsen’s latest Senate campaign report shows he has $3.9 million in cash on hand for his Senate race. Since the beginning of 1987, he has raised more than $6 million.