Richard Tisei May Have Violated Campaign Finance Laws

GOP House Candidate May Have Violated Campaign Finance Laws
Former Republican Massachusetts state Sen. Richard Tisei gestures to supporters in Wakefield, Mass., Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014, as he announces he will run for the state's 6th Congressional District seat currently held by U.S. Rep. John Tierney. Tisei is one of three openly gay Republicans nationwide expected to run in this year's midterm elections for Congress. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
Former Republican Massachusetts state Sen. Richard Tisei gestures to supporters in Wakefield, Mass., Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014, as he announces he will run for the state's 6th Congressional District seat currently held by U.S. Rep. John Tierney. Tisei is one of three openly gay Republicans nationwide expected to run in this year's midterm elections for Congress. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Massachusetts Republican congressional candidate Richard Tisei may have violated campaign finance laws during his 2012 bid for Congress, according to a report from the Boston Globe's David Scharfenberg.

The potential violation revolves around the former state senator's payment of $20,540 to GOP consultant Arthur J. Finkelstein in 2011 from his state account, rather than his federal campaign account, for services allegedly related to his 2012 campaign. Federal law prohibits the use of state campaign funds for U.S. House and Senate races.

Tisei is running for Congress this year against Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.). If he wins, he could be the first openly gay Republican elected to Congress.

The Tisei campaign told the Boston Globe that the payments were legal because they were not doled out while he was an official candidate and were related to potential state campaigns. But the paper also reported the Tisei campaign reached out to the Federal Election Commission regarding the legality of certain payments from his state account, which still raises questions.

Read more of the Boston Globe's report, which also questions the lawfulness of other Massachusetts campaigns, here.

Tisei was endorsed by the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, though some LGBT Democrats are wary of his candidacy.

A June Emerson College Polling Society poll has Tisei leading Tierney by 5 percentage points among likely voters.

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