State election officials have opened an investigation into the campaign finances of the local advocacy group, Stand For Children, during Nashville's recent school board election.
The Tennessee Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finances Registry Board opened the investigation into the organization Wednesday afternoon.
A complaint was filed the day before the election.
Campaign Finance Complaint Filed Day Before School Board Election
The attorney representing the group that filed the complaint said they had documented proof that a political action committee (PAC) broke state campaign finance laws.
“The laws are in place to keep an even playing field so that one big, out-of-state group like Stand for Children from Oregon can't come in and flood the race with hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars, said Tennessee Citizen Action attorney Gerard Stranch.
Stand for Children supported four candidates who were friendly to charter schools. Tennessee Citizen Action filed a complaint with state election officials, alleging that Stand for Children broke the law by spending more money than is allowed.
“It comes down to did they spend money than they wouldn't have been allowed to if they were 'in-kind' contributions as opposed to independent expenditures,” said Drew Rawlins, Executive Director of the Tennessee Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance.
Stand for Children's attorney insisted they did nothing wrong. He added the order is standard procedure whenever a complaint is filed.
Both Stand for Children and the four losing school board candidates are set to go before state election officials in October.
The Tennessee Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance’s registry broad could issue major fines depending on its ruling.
