After barely a month as the Republican nominee in Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District, former Brownback advisor Amanda Adkins is facing an FEC complaint for potentially illegal behavior. As the Kansas City Star reported this afternoon, Adkins is now under investigation for raising “more than $150,000 before filing a statement of candidacy with the FEC in August of 2019.” The report follows a separate Star investigation showing that Adkins “skirted federal election law by representing herself as a candidate before filing the appropriate paperwork.”
This latest development follows a pattern of shady campaign tactics from Adkins. Drawing unflattering comparisons to disgraced Congressman Steve Watkins’ 2018 campaign, Adkins’ father funneled more than a hundred thousand dollars into a Super PAC that aired months-worth of attack ads against her Republican opponent in a desperate attempt to buy the Republican nomination.
Kansas Republican Amanda Adkins faces FEC complaint related to 2019 fundraising
By Bryan Lowry
A former Kansas Democratic official has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against Republican Amanda Adkins, alleging the congressional candidate skirted campaign finance rules in 2019.
Adkins, a Cerner executive who is challenging Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids in the Kansas 3rd Congressional District, raised more than $150,000 before filing a statement of candidacy with the FEC in August of 2019.
Federal campaign finance rules require candidates to file paperwork with the FEC after raising or expending $5,000 or more.
…Andy Sandler, the former Democratic chair for the 3rd District, alleges in a complaint that Adkins flouted these rules.
The complaint is based in part on a 2019 Kansas City Star article about an email sent to donors on behalf of Adkins from the fundraising firm, High Cotton Consulting. The firm is a subsidiary of Axiom Strategies, the Kansas City firm that has advised Adkins’ campaign.
In an email sent a month before Adkins filed her statement of candidacy, High Cotton referred to Adkins as a candidate and said the firm would be working for her campaign.
“The July 30 email demonstrated that Adkins exited the testing waters period by at least that point,” Sandler’s complaint states.
…“I think that’s basically her thumbing her nose at ethics,” Sandler said. “This just is a cynical attempt by her to skirt the rules and I don’t think that’s particularly fair… It bugged me to see that in typical Republican fashion they take a look at rules and decide that they’re quaint and antiquated.”
…The FEC confirmed it received Sandler’s complaint, which he emailed to the agency Friday.
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