House District 79 candidate Joe Lovvorn has refunded the single largest donation of the campaign, according to the most recent campaign finance report filed with the Alabama Secretary of State's Office earlier this week.
Lovvorn refunded a $10,000 donation he originally received in July from The Halstead Family Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization, records show. Lovvorn said the donation was made by a friend who "just wanted to help his campaign."
"That donation in particular originated from a friend in college, that grew up in Auburn and is an Auburn High School grad, and he and I served in some groups together through college," Lovvorn said. "He called me and said he knew I was a man of integrity. He said there was no better man for this job, and I want to make a contribution."
The donation, however, was against IRS regulation. Nonprofit charitable organizations that file under 501(c)(3) status are tax exempt and thus barred from taking part in or making any donations to political campaigns, guidelines on the IRS website show.
"It is a family foundation group," Lovvorn told The Plainsman. "It is a 501(c)(3) corporation. It was perfectly legal for us to accept that contribution, and we could have kept the money in the campaign, but it would have affected his longterm tax situation. But we did the right thing, just like we've done from the start of this campaign."
If the contribution had been reported to the IRS, the Halstead Family Foundation could have lost their tax-exempt status, the IRS website states.
"Contributions to political campaign funds ... made on behalf of the organization in favor of or in opposition to any candidate for public office clearly violate the prohibition against political campaign activity," the website reads. "Violating this prohibition may result in denial or revocation of tax-exempt status and the imposition of certain excise taxes."
The $10,000 donation was not only the largest donation Lovvorn received, but it was also the largest donation to any candidate in the race thus far.
"It was a great offer of his passion for me, and for the job he feels I can do," Lovvorn said. "But we also respect his situation more than ours, and we were happy to refund it."
Even after the $10,000 refund this week, Lovvorn is far in advance of his rivals, with more than $14,000 remaining in his campaign account. Brett Smith, an Auburn attorney and candidate who has been second to Lovvorn in fundraising, has raised $14,000 since June.
Sandy Toomer has raised nearly $8,000 since he announced his candidacy. Jay Conner has not filed any reports because he has not raised more than $1,000 in any reporting period.
Lovvorn, on the other hand, raised $51,325 in the month of July alone, and in total, he has raised more than $70,000. In his first month, political action committees — including BIPAC, NEW PAC, TRUK PAC and SAVEPAC — contributed $10,000 to Lovvorn's campaign.
In the past two weeks, $3,500 of Lovvorn's fundraising came from PACs, including $1,000 for Montgomery-based lobbying firm SAHR and $2,500 from the Retailers of Alabama Political Action Committee.
The remainder of Lovvorn's funding came from individual donors, businesses or corporations, and Lovvorn said the PAC donations won't influence his decision-making at the Statehouse.
"Only a very small percentage of our funding has come from a group," he said. "It has all come from individuals or from companies in this district. ... I stand by any contribution we've received. We have not accepted contributions from anyone I would call an extreme leveraging PAC, and we don't intend to. Those are organizations that people in this district are members of and pay into, and that's how that money originated. Three of them I'm a member of myself."
No PACs have donated to any of the other candidates.
"Whether they're a campaign contributor or not will never influence me in voting for what's right for the people of this district," he said. "I've dedicated 20 years to the fire service to looking out for this community, and I've proven that I put people first."
Updated campaign finance reports will be filed next week.
Check out The Plainsman's comprehensive coverage of the House District 79 election
- Read a profile on House candidate Jay Conner
- Read a profile on House candidate Brett Smith
- Read a profile on House candidate Sandy Toomer
- Read a profile on House candidate Gage Fenwick
- Read a profile on House candidate Joe Lovvorn
- Candidates talk issues, trust in forum
- Lovvorn refunds $10,000 donation
- House candidate: 'We should concentrate on making our state better' not fighting the federal government
- Fourth Republican announces candidacy for House seat
- Third candidate announces plans to run for Auburn's House seat
- Two hopefuls announce plans to run for Hubbard's vacant seat
- Election announced to replace Hubbard
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