Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren says it was a paperwork error that caused her campaign to pay for part of a fundraising event with money from her Political Action Committee, which is a violation of state election law.
The mayor’s office said last night an error in depositing the funds through PayPal led to them going into the wrong account, showing up as a transfer of $30,000 from the “Warren for a Stronger Rochester” PAC to the “Friends of Lovely Warren,” her re-election committee. State law allows PACS to fund nearly endless support activities but strictly forbids any direct spending on a campaign and doesn’t allow the committees to coordinate their programs. Warren says the money was from campaign donations and should have gone straight to the “Friends of Lovely Warren.”
Democratic Primary Challenger James Sheppard filed a complaint with the Board of Elections over misuse of PAC contributions.
Warren’s other primary challenger, Rachel Barnhart, says in a statement this was not a matter of confusion, it was illegal activity.