Political group: Rep. Mia Love’s fundraising issue not resolved

SALT LAKE CITY – The war of words between the two opponents for Utah’s Fourth Congressional District seat is getting more heated, and neither side appears to be backing down.

The debate is over money Mia Love’s campaign fundraising raised during the Republican primary period.  Her critics say she should have returned that money since she knew she was running unopposed until the general election.

Love stands by her previous statement that her campaign had been notified that she could keep that money.

Love tells KSL, “We received an unsolicited call from the Federal Elections Committee that stated that we were able to keep all of our primary funds raised up until the convention.”

Love is still demanding an apology from her political opponent, Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams.  She accuses him of peddling lies about that money.

“He’s an attorney,” she says, “He knows that you can legally raise funds in a primary whether or not you have a primary opponent.”

Officials from the FEC can’t confirm if that call actually happened.  A press officer for the FEC tells the Deseret News that analysts aren’t allowed to speak to the press.

Even if her campaign received that call, officials with Alliance for a Better Utah say the matter is not resolved, as Love claims.

Executive Director Chase Thomas says, “The fact that our complaint is still under review and could potentially lead to a full investigation, means this issue is far from over.”

Thomas says he’s not accusing Love of fabricating the call.  However, he says complaints to the FEC sometimes take years to resolve, and they still are calling on Love’s campaign to give back $1 million in donations.

“This is extremely abnormal, during a complaint process, to have a [FEC] staffer reach out to you and tell you how to go about it.  Normally, you receive an official response from the FEC once the matter is resolved,” Thomas says.