Board of Elections Enforcement Counsel Seeks Damages from Former IDC Members

February 25th, 2019

The State Board of Elections Enforcement Counsel, Risa Sugarman, is seeking $8.6 million in penalties and fines from senators, campaign staff, and party officials of the NYS Senate former Independent Democratic Conference (IDC) and the Independence Party in connection with the entities joint campaign finance practices. The partnership between the two entities allowed the IDC to maintain and operate a separate party committee account within the Independence Party organization, availing the IDC to the same contribution limits and candidate expenditures afforded to party committees. A State Supreme Court, however, deemed this agreement invalid in June of 2018. In light of the court’s ruling, the enforcement counsel is seeking to recover significant money from former IDC members and other individuals involved. The Independence Party and former IDC members believed the transactions to be lawful and brought themselves into compliance once a court ruled the arrangement invalid.