ELECTIONS / 23RD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT : Democrats Trade Blows on Campaign Law Complaint

Democratic congressional candidate Kevin Sweeney has filed a complaint with federal election authorities alleging that his rival in the June 2 primary, Anita Perez Ferguson, has violated federal campaign laws, a Sweeney spokesman said Friday.

In his complaint to the Federal Election Commission, Sweeney accused Perez Ferguson of breaking campaign and ethics laws by failing to repay an illegal $4,000 contribution taken in 1990, not promptly reporting her candidacy to authorities and failing to file her personal financial disclosure statement.

“Ferguson’s handling of federal campaign laws makes the House bank look efficient,” said Sweeney campaign spokesman Kevin Looper, referring to the House of Representatives banking scandal.

Sam Rodriguez, Perez Ferguson’s campaign manager, called Sweeney’s complaint “an act of a desperate campaign.”

“This is underhanded. It is so mean-spirited of Kevin that we are confident that the voters of the district are going to take his political tricks and send the tricks and him on his merry way to Venice Beach,” Rodriguez said.

Sweeney and Perez Ferguson are competing for the Democratic nomination in the newly drawn 23rd Congressional District, which includes Carpinteria and all of Ventura County except Thousand Oaks. Although the two candidates have been sniping at each other, this is the strongest exchange between their campaigns.

In his May 14 letter to the commission, which oversees federal campaign reporting laws, Sweeney alleged that Perez Ferguson has not paid back $4,000 which she illegally accepted from a Puerto Rican group during her unsuccessful campaign for Congress in 1990.

The group, the 50th Anniversary Popular Democratic Party, made a $5,000 campaign contribution when the top amount allowed by federal law was $1,000. A Jan. 2, 1991, letter from the commission put Perez Ferguson on notice that she needed to refund the $4,000 within 60 days of receipt of the contribution.

In a May 24, 1991, letter to the FEC, Perez Ferguson said her campaign was “attempting to raise the money” to refund it “as soon as possible.”

On Friday, Rodriguez said he did not know if the $4,000 had been repaid. Perez Ferguson was flying from Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles Friday and could not be reached for comment.

In her campaign statement for the three-month period ending March 31, she shows campaign contributions of almost $26,000.

Sweeney’s complaint also alleges that Perez Ferguson did not file her statement of candidacy in a timely manner. Under federal law, candidates must file an official statement of candidacy within 15 days of either raising or spending $5,000.

According to Perez Ferguson’s financial report to the commission, she received a $5,000 contribution from a political action committee on Feb. 2. Rodriguez said Perez Ferguson notified the commission of her candidacy on Feb. 18. But according to FEC records, Perez Ferguson’s letter announcing her candidacy was dated April 16.

Sweeney’s complaint also alleges that Perez Ferguson has not filed a personal financial disclosure statement with the clerk of the House of Representatives 30 days before the June 2 primary, or on May 4, as required by federal ethics law.

A search by The Times could not locate her report. Rodriguez said it was mailed to the clerk’s office Thursday.