Kristi for Governor Calls for Immediate Investigation into Jamie Smith’s Campaign Finance Violations

PIERRE, S.D.(Press Release) – On Monday, at the campaign finance deadline, Jamie Smith’s gubernatorial campaign violated campaign finance disclosure laws. The “Smith for Governor” campaign failed to follow of SDCL 12-27-24.

“Jamie Smith committed 33 pages of campaign finance violations today,” said Ian Fury, Communications Director at Kristi for Governor. “There is not a single itemized contribution in his filing that complies with the most basic requirements of the law. How can we trust him to follow the laws of our state and faithfully execute the duties of Governor? We are calling for an immediate investigation into these violations.”

Smith violated SDCL 12-27-24 (12) by failing to include the “mailing address, city, and state of each person making a contribution of more than one hundred dollars.” Smith’s campaign did not provide the address of a single such contributor. In doing so, Smith made at least 1,500 itemized violations.

If the information required by statute is not provided, the donations cannot be deposited. SDCL 12-27-24(12) says “If any information required by the section is unknown to the political committee, the political committee may not deposit the contribution.”

“It seems that Jamie Smith’s campaign illegally deposited more than half-a-million dollars in contributions,” continued Fury.

Representative Smith responded to the allegations Monday evening, saying: “Everything was submitted in a timely manner and in accordance with South Dakota’s campaign finance regulations. I take these allegations very seriously and have directed my accounting team to identify any errors, technical or human, in our report and correct them immediately.”

Smith campaign has seven days to rectify the manner before fines can be levied against them.

Kristi for Governor outraised Jamie Smith’s campaign by a margin of three to one.