The state Ethics Commission has settled a complaint over state House candidate Mark Lowery’s failure to file campaign finance reports in a timely manner with an agreed letter of caution and $150 fine.

SCOFFLAW: Rep. Mark Lowery pays $150 for multiple campaign violations.

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  • SCOFFLAW: Rep. Mark Lowery pays $150 for multiple campaign violations.

Here’s the outcome of the case.

Lowery failed to file a final report for his primary campaign and three monthly reports during the critical period of the general election campaign. This denied the public any knowledge of who was paying for his campaign. Reports eventually filed showed he was almost entirely financed by corporate interests. He also benefitted from one of those “ticketed event” scams in which other Republican legislators wrote him checks from campaign funds, generally prohibited by law, under the guise that they were attending a political event that might benefit their campaigns. Might not have made a difference had voters known this. It might have. He won a hard-fought race for the Maumelle seat against Kelly Halstead.

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FOR EXAMPLE: Check out the special interest money that paid off his campaign debt, in a report filed just this week.

Still: a $150 slap on the wrist for a corporate toady for intentional disregard of campaign finance laws for a period of four months in the heat of a campaign? Why should anybody obey the law if this is the consequence?

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David Trussell, who filed the complaint, comments:

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