Cox fined $22K in past campaign for failing to report contributions
California governor candidate John Cox was fined more than $22,000 by the Federal Election Commission in 2002 for failing to report several hundred thousand dollars he gave his campaign during a race for the U.S. Senate.
The Republican businessman lives in San Diego County and is now in second place behind Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, according to recent polls, as he bankrolls his race for office again.
Cox, who moved to California in 2008, was running for a Senate seat in Illinois at the time. He gave his campaign $219,507.47 in the days before the March 2002 primary. His staff never filed two required reports documenting those personal loans within 48 hours.
After the FEC fined his campaign $22,150 in September 2002, Cox’s campaign sued the commission, arguing that the fees were unconstitutional. A federal judge ruled against the campaign the following year.
At the time, Cox’s campaign argued that the failure to report the donations was “an innocent mistake.” The two donations were made on March 5, 2002, and March 12, 2002.
Cox did report the donations on a separate FEC report after the election. And his campaign argued that they deserved leniency because Cox had publicly discussed his plans to give money, and because his campaign’s operations were impacted by a fire in an employee’s apartment.
The FEC fines amounted to “a grave injustice” that “fails to distinguish between egregious violations and honest mistakes,” Cox’s campaign argued in a court filing. His lawyers argued that the commission’s fines violated the U.S. Constitution because they were “grossly disproportional” to the conduct they punished.
But a federal judge didn’t buy it, ruling in favor of the FEC in January 2004. The FEC also noted that Cox was acting as his own campaign treasurer during the race, and should have known to file the reports.
“This was 16 years ago — he paid the fine and he fought it,” said Cox spokesman Matt Shupe. “It was a learning experience.”
Cox came in third in the March 19, 2002, GOP primary for Senate, with 22.7 percent of the vote. He lost to Rep. Jim Durkin, who was bested later that year by Democrat Dick Durbin.
The donations were part of more than $1 million in total that Cox loaned his 2002 campaign, although the vast majority was never repaid to him, according to FEC records.
That Senate campaign was one of a string of electoral bids by Cox in Illinois. He also unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2000, Cook County Recorder of Deeds in 2004, and U.S. president in 2008.
More recently, in the California governor’s race, he’s reported investing more than $4 million of his own money into his campaign — funding that’s helped him rise in the polls. The top two candidates in the June 5 primary, regardless of party affiliation, will move on to the general election.