CLC Alleges Florida Candidate Kelli Stargel Violated Federal “Soft Money” Rules

On August 23, 2023, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging that 2022 congressional candidate Kelli Stargel, her state PAC, and a super PAC backing her candidacy each violated federal campaign finance laws that prohibit raising and spending “soft money”—including money raised by nonfederal committees and organizations that are generally not subject to federal campaign finance laws—in connection with a federal election. The complaint alleges that in 2013, Stargel established “Limited Govt for a Stronger Florida Political Committee,” a state PAC in Florida that raised over $2.8 million on Stargel’s behalf, and that Stargel illegally transferred $1 million from that nonfederal committee to a federal super PAC, Conservative Warriors PAC, which used that money to make over $946,000 in independent expenditures supporting Stargel’s 2022 congressional campaign.