CSBJ Daily

State Rep. Kent Lambert filed a campaign finance complaint against Gov. Bill Ritter for making illegal use of his inaugural campaign in violation of state election laws.

Ritter announced last week that he borrowed $200,000 to replace money meant for his inauguration that was used for his campaign.

“This is a major concern,” Lambert said. “Almost $300,000 was transferred from a private corporation to Gov. Ritter’s campaign fund in a manner that demonstrates at a minimum a lack of fiscal responsibility, if not a total disregard for state law.”

Lambert, a Republican representing Colorado Springs, filed the complaint with the Secretary of State’s Division of Administrative Hearings.

The complaint says that Ritter’s Inaugural Committee funds, which were mostly raised from corporate donations, were used to pay for Ritter’s campaign debt and staff salaries. The violations include Ritter’s campaign receiving excessive campaign donations above the legal limits set by Colorado law, accepting illegal contributions from a corporation and failure to report campaign contributions.

Under Colorado’s Amendment 27, corporations are not permitted to make donations to campaigns, and individual campaigns in any one cycle are limited to $525 per person.