Inquiry into Spearman’s spending closed
Office: No evidence of misuse of funds
A Nevada secretary of state’s office investigation into state Sen. Pat Spearman, D-north Las Vegas, found no evidence that the senator broke any state campaign finance laws regarding payments to her sister and an associated consulting firm.
The office opened an investigation into Spearman based on an April story in the Reno Gazette-journal that questioned Spearman’s campaign spending, according to a letter sent from the office to Spearman on Thursday. The state also informed the senator that the investigation is closed.
Spearman could not be reached for comment Thursday evening.
The newspaper’s story highlighted payments made to Spearman’s sister, Donna Spearman-davis. It also raised questions about payments to a consulting firm with ties to Spearman-davis.
The Gazette-journal reported that Spearman-davis and the firm, Crawford Management Group, received about 30 percent of the campaign money Spearman spent between 2012 and 2018, making them the two largest recipients of the funds.
The firm, which shared an address with Spearman-davis, received more than $100,000 in campaign money, according to the newspaper.
It also received $30,000 during Spearman’s unsuccessful 2018 congressional run, according to the story.
Spearman told the Gazette-journal that her sister was not working for her before refusing to answer any more questions about Spearman-davis’ campaign role.
With Spearman-davis receiving more than $41,000 as a campaign staffer, a political action committee associated with her also received more than $4,000 in campaign contributions, the newspaper reported.
Half of the state campaign money paid to Spearman-davis and the firm came during nonelection years, according to the Gazette-journal report.
Contact Blake Apgar at bapgar@ reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5298. Follow @blakeapgar on Twitter.