Hamilton amends campaign report, returns improper donation

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette

Friday, May 14, 2010, 1 p.m. — Democratic candidate for judge executive Rob Hamilton acknowledged this morning that his latest campaign filing had an improper campaign contribution from Waddell's Auto & Scrap Recycling. State law prohibits corporations from making contributions, direct, indirect or in-kind, to a candidate for state or local office. Hamilton discussed the issue on a special Friday edition of "Brooks & Company" on 1320 WBRT.

Hamilton said he was unaware that Waddell's was actually an incorporated business until he was alerted to that fact earlier this week. Waddell's was incorporated June 3, 2009, in Elizabethtown. He said this morning the business name on the check was missing the "Inc." suffix to indicate it was indeed a corporation.

Hamilton said he has returned the $500 donation to Waddell's. Hamilton also noted an error on his 15-day pre-election filing that showed an in-kind contribution of $364.81 in hats from the Shirt Shop of Bardstown. The Shirt Shop is an incorporated business that is part of Bardstown businessman Jack Hurst's Trends, Inc. Hamilton said the hats donated were on behalf of Hurst and not his business. He added that a donation by another Bardstown businessman will likely be returned because it was written from the man's business account, and state records show that business is also a corporation.

In January, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United vs. FEC that corporations could spend money to advertise on behalf of federal candidates and causes. However the high court ruling left standing the prohibition on corporate donations directly to the campaigns of federal candidates.

Allowed and disallowed campaign contributions are discussed on page 40 in the "Candidate Guide to Campaign Finance," a guide published by the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance. The guide notes that partnerships, Limited Liability Corporations (LLCs) and Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs), sole proprietorships and unincorporated businesses are allowed to contribution to campaigns in Kentucky. Click here to download and read the guide.

Hamilton told WBRT listeners this morning that his election campaign - and all the do's and don'ts of campaign contributions - have been a learning process for him. If elected, he promised to fairly represent residents across the county and to work to solve problems.

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