Doylestown Democrats returns donations after campaign finance violations review
A campaign finance report from May shows that Doylestown Democrats reimbursed three local businesses for 2024 contributions: The Wyck, a Buckingham restaurant, as well as Evolution Candy and Comedy Cabaret, both in Doylestown.
The donations may have violated state election law, the Doylestown Republican Committee wrote in a statement on Monday, which prohibits corporations from donating to political committees in many cases.
Ed Sheppard, a spokesperson for the GOP committee who sent Monday's press release, filed the campaign finance complaint in late January, according to emails reviewed by this news organization. Sheppard's press release did not mention who had filed the complaint, and he blacked out all mentions of his name in the emails he provided, but his information was legible despite the redactions. (Sheppard said he only meant to redact his email address and had omitted all other references to his name by mistake).
The Pennsylvania Department of State completed its investigation by March. "Dear Mr. Sheppard, Please allow this letter to serve as a follow-up to your complaint dated January 25, 2025 regarding Doylestown Democrats," wrote a compliance analyst for the state's campaign finance office. "After review, the Bureau of Campaign Finance and Lobbying Disclosure has worked with the committee to rectify any violations of Article XVI and the committee is now in compliance."
'Local offices, like this year's Township Supervisor's race, are not supposed to have corporate sponsors," Sheppard wrote in the press release.
Doylestown Democrats "proactively worked with the Pennsylvania Department of State to address any concerns related to contributions to our organization," said the committee chair, Judy Dixon.
The committee returned the contributions in late February, according to campaign finance records.
"There was no secret, no scandal, and no wrongdoing," said Connor O'Hanlon, who chaired the committee at the time of the alleged violations. "We worked transparently with the Department of State, who is completely satisfied that everything has been handled properly. To suggest otherwise is nothing more than a political stunt."
The Department of State said Wednesday that it keeps campaign finance violation complaints confidential.
The largest contribution, for $1,050, came from Comedy Cabaret. The committee does fundraisers at the comedy club, said Dixon and the club's owner, Andy Scarpati. A variety of other companies and organizations host fundraisers at the venue, according to its website.
"They weren't paying us," said Johnny King-Marino, a Democratic organizer, explaining that the comedy club was giving back to the committee $1,050 in donations the committee had received during a fundraiser at the club. Since then, the committee has handled the donations from the comedy fundraisers in cash or through King-Marino, the organizer and the club owner said.
The latest campaign finance report shows that King-Marino made two sizable contributions to the committee in early May, a few days after the Doylestown Democrats' April 26 fundraiser at the venue.
More: Polarizing politics chills participation in Bucks County primary races. Why no one ran
The Doylestown Republican Committee also alleged that the state had taken the investigation off the Bucks County Board of Elections' hands because the state didn't think Bucks officials would handle it appropriately.
Both the state and the county elections board had received the complaint, county spokesperson Jim O'Malley said Tuesday, but the state was responsible for conducting the investigation.
Doylestown Democrats' finances fall under the state department's purview because it's a state-level committee, O'Malley said. When the county received the complaint in January, Bucks officials contacted the state to confirm the complaint fell under the state's remit, and Pennsylvania officials agreed that it did.
The GOP committee also criticized O'Hanlon for not disclosing the investigation when he was being appointed to Doylestown Borough Council. O'Hanlon did not address that criticism on Tuesday.
Jess Rohan can be reached at jrohan@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: PA investigated Doylestown Democrats for campaign finance violations
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