Vito Fossella, who Politico reported this morning is considering a run for his old House seat, still has $58,000 in his campaign committee, which hasn’t filed an FEC report since the first quarter of 2009.
Fossella, a Republican from New York’s Staten Island, dropped out of his re-election race in 2008 after being arrested for drunken driving and subsequently admitting that he had fathered a child with a woman not his wife.
His last FEC filing came in April of 2009, showing that he had $58,015 cash on hand. Since he hasn’t dissolved the committee, the FEC has repeatedly sent him letters informing him of his failure to file — four in all, for the last three quarters in 2009 and the first quarter of 2010.
In order to dissolve the committee, Fossella would have to file a termination report, detailing how he plans to spend his leftover cash.
If he resurrects the committee to run this year, he’d have to file those back reports or face a fine, according to FEC spokesman Christian Hilland. If he forms a new committee, those missing reports won’t affect his run, but the federal election commissioners could still choose to fine the committee if Fossella never files those back reports or terminates the committee.
Despite the scandal, Fossella is still popular with Republicans in his district, receiving a standing ovation at a dinner last week.
Rep. Mike McMahon, the Democrat who now holds the seat, isn’t worried.
“Our campaign train has already left the station and they’re still trying to figure out who’s getting on,” said McMahon’s campaign spokesman, Jennifer Nelson. The reports about Fossella are “another example” of the Republicans not being able to get their act together, she said.
