Auditor’s office: Rene Gonzalez campaign violated Portland campaign finance laws over a dozen times

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- The campaign for Rene Gonzalez’s run for mayor has violated Portland campaign finance laws, the city's auditor office announced.

Gonzalez’s campaign, Rene for Portland, accepted donations above city-mandated limits on 18 occasions, the City of Portland Auditor’s Office determined Wednesday. The total contributions that went above the limits was $3,060. The campaign is getting fined triple that amount: $9,180.

“Campaign finance limits were initiated and approved by Portland voters in 2018 by a wide margin. Ultimately, it is every campaign’s duty to comply with the City Charter’s campaign finance regulations and issue timely refunds when a campaign receives an unlawful contribution. We urge all campaigns to take financial bookkeeping seriously to avoid putting their campaigns and contributors at risk.” said Deborah Scroggin, elections division manager.

According to the City of Portland’s campaign finance laws, campaign contributions are limited to $579 from individuals and political committees, among other restrictions. The auditor’s findings showed several contributions that went above that $579 limit, ranging from $21 to $841 over the limit, and totaling $3,060.

Several individual donors were also fined for going above that limit at a rate of two times the amount they went over by, the auditor’s office said. It was also determined that when Rene for Portland did refund contributions that went over the limit, they frequently took much longer than the seven-day grace period mandated by law, with one refund taking 223 days.

Gonzalez, a current Portland commissioner, was ultimately unsuccessful in his bid to become mayor. Businessman Keith Wilson instead secured the seat for mayor, which will begin next year with a new form of government and a new set of city councilors.