Wisconsin Insurance Commissioner Named in Election Complaint
July 8, 2011 by Sean P. Carr
| MADISON, Wis. July 07 (BestWire) — Wisconsin Insurance Commissioner Ted Nickel and nine other donors to Gov. Scott Walker’s election campaign allegedly violated campaign finance laws, according to a complaint filed with the state’s Government Accountability Board.
Nickel gave $10,255 to Walker’s 2010 campaign, exceeding the $10,000 limit for the gubernatorial campaign cycle, according to the complaint filed by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a progressive organization tracking money in state politics. The future commissioner gave Walker $500 in January 2009 and $9,755 on Aug. 30, 2010, according to the complaint. Nickel was then director of governmental and regulatory affairs for Church Mutual Insurance Co. of Merrill, Wis., a provider of insurance to churches, denominational offices, schools, camps and senior living communities (BestWire, Jan. 6, 2011). The complaint accused Walker and 10 contributors of a combined 24 violations of state campaign finance law. All contributions received from July 1, 2008 through Dec. 31, 2010 count toward the contribution limits, unless used to repay debts from a previous election, according to the board. The state board enforces Wisconsin’s campaign finance, ethics and lobbying laws. Complaints deemed worthy of evaluation are investigated confidentially, board spokesman Reid Magney said. Disciplinary actions, where warranted, are announced publicly, he said. In March 2010, the board announced penalties of 150% of the excess amounts in an investigation into 2008 campaign contributions. Attempts to reach Nickel for comment were unsuccessful. “The campaign committee works with the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board to comply with all applicable campaign finance laws. The committee constantly reviews the reports of our over 50,000 grassroots donors and will continue working with the Government Accountability Board to ensure compliance,” the Republican Party of Wisconsin said in a statement on behalf of the Walker Campaign. Before Walker named him insurance commissioner in January 2011, Nickel spent 18 years at Church Mutual, for which his father is director emeritus. Nickel served on the board of directors of the Wisconsin Insurance Security Fund and on the Oklahoma Property Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association. He was also a member of the Legal and Government Affairs Committee of the Property Casualty Insurance Association of America (BestWire, Jan. 6, 2011). Walker succeeded Sean Dilweg, who served under former Gov. Jim Doyle. |
