Nancy Rotering, the Democratic mayor who has launched a primary bid against former Rep. Brad Schneider, has again found her campaign finances the subject of questionable headlines.
Late last week, Politico Pro reported on Rotering taking out a bank loan for her campaign at a steep 7.75 percent interest rate, which Democratic fundraising consultants said could be designed to pad her campaign’s cash on hand. So far, Rotering has loaned her campaign $200,000.
What Democrats are saying of Rotering’s financial gambit:
“One, a longtime fundraising consultant, said it violated the consultant’s ‘first rule of campaigns: Never loan your campaign money you have to borrow.’”
“‘It’s not something I would ever tell a candidate to do,’ said a second fundraising consultant, who reviewed Rotering’s FEC report at the request of Campaign Pro.”
“‘I think it’s a risky thing for a challenger to do, especially in a contested primary,’ said the third Democratic consultant, who specializes in compliance.”
This isn’t the first time Rotering has faced campaign finance scrutiny. Only weeks ago in July 2015, a non-partisan watchdog group filed a complaint with the FEC alleging Rotering violated campaign finance law by receiving contributions in excess of $5,000 before officially registering as a candidate.