The Federal Election Commission has fined the Kansas Republican Party $6,500 because of problems with the group’s financial reports. That’s according to documents released this week. The commission found the state party incorrectly reported spending and cash balances during the 2007-2008 election cycle. Kansas GOP Executive Director Clay Barker says they could have faced a much larger fine.
Barker believes the FEC went with a relatively small fine because the state party fully cooperated and made administrative changes. Secretary of State Kris Kobach was chair of the state Republican Party during the time in question. He says the flawed accounting was unintentional.