TOPEKA (KSNT) — Questions about financial transparency are emerging in Kansas’ U.S. Senate race, after national Republicans accused several Democratic candidates of failing to file required personal financial disclosure forms.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) on Monday called on the Senate Select Committee on Ethics to investigate four Kansas Democratic candidates — Erik Murray, Sandy Spidel Neumann, Christy Davis and Anne Parelkar — for allegedly failing to submit the disclosures within the timeframe required under federal law.
“By failing to file their personal financial disclosure forms, these four Senate Democrat candidates are not only breaking the law, but deliberately keeping Kansans in the dark,” NRSC Regional Press Secretary Samantha Cantrell said in a statement.
Federal law requires candidates running for U.S. Senate to file a personal financial disclosure report detailing assets, income sources and potential conflicts of interest. The report is generally due within 30 days after a candidate raises or spends more than $5,000 in their campaign.
After the allegations surfaced, a review of Federal Election Commission records and consultation with campaign finance experts at the Campaign Legal Center found that the disclosures for the four candidates were not publicly available in federal records.
The Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan watchdog group that focuses on campaign transparency, reviewed the records and said the filings for those candidates were not on file past their expected deadlines.
Nexstar’s Kansas Capitol Bureau then contacted the campaigns for each candidate to find out why.
The campaign for Anne Parelkar said it is in the process of registering in the Senate Office of Public Records system and plans to submit the required personal financial disclosure soon.
“Our campaign is complying with all applicable filing requirements,” Mike Trapp, a campaign representative, said in an email response.
The campaign for Erik Murray said delays were related to complications during last year’s federal government shutdown, which they say affected some Federal Election Commission systems and paperwork processing.
“Consequently, we did not receive all the forms and logins needed to complete some tasks,” said Benjamin Pfeiffer, a campaign representative for Murray.
Campaign representatives said they have since received the necessary forms and are working to upload the electronic financial disclosures.
The campaign for Christy Davis said a change in its compliance vendor caused delays in submitting the required paperwork but that the campaign is working with federal officials to ensure all disclosures are properly filed.
“As a previous federal employee, Christy Davis completed the required financial disclosures when she was the USDA Rural Development State Director for Kansas,” the campaign said in a statement. “We are happy to get all the required disclosure information to the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics.”
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the campaign for Sandy Spidel Neumann did not respond to requests for comment.
Records reviewed by campaign finance experts indicate Spidel Neumann requested an extension for filing the disclosure in November, with the report due Feb. 12. As of the latest review, the filing had not appeared in the Senate Office of Public Records system.
Campaign finance experts say the disclosure forms are an important part of federal ethics rules designed to give voters insight into candidates’ financial interests before they take office.
While several campaigns said the delays were administrative or procedural, the filings themselves are required for candidates seeking a seat in the U.S. Senate.
Several campaigns said they are now working to complete the disclosures after being contacted about the missing filings.
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