By Jane Ann Morrison
CONFUSING ELECTION LAWS: Just because you make the laws doesn’t mean you understand them.
Election officials say former Republican state Sens. Joe Heck and Bob Beers failed to properly abide by the campaign finance laws after losing their elections in 2008 to Democratic novices. The laws governing losers are different than the laws governing winners. Losers were supposed to dispose of unspent campaign funds by Jan. 15, 2009.
In Beers’ case, there wasn’t a lot of money left over, just $7,320.
But Heck had nearly $114,000 left over. He believed he could roll that money over into his gubernatorial race, based on how he interpreted a letter from the secretary of state.
“Both broke the law, but neither was intentionally trying to. They didn’t understand the law,” Deputy Secretary for Elections Matthew Griffin said Friday.