Politics & Government
Candidate Travis Allen Accused of Loaning Campaign Extra $100K
Republican Allen calls the issue a "minor clerical error" and accuses opponent Troy Edgar of trying to distract from his own campaign violations.
In the continuing battle for the 72 Assembly seat – which will represent a number of Orange County cities including Rossmoor, Seal Beach, Los Alamitos and Fountain Valley – another financial misconduct allegation has surfaced.
This week, the campaign for Troy Edgar, Los Alamitos mayor, released a statement announcing a Seal Beach lawyer had filed a complaint with the California Fair Political Practices Commission against his Republican opponent, Travis Allen, a Huntington Beach businessman.
According to Edgar, the complaint by Heidi Abel alleges Allen loaned himself $100,000 more than campaign laws allow, and didn't fill out late contribution reports for at least three donations of more than $1,000 and a $7,000 loan to his campaign.
Find out what's happening in Los Alamitos-Seal Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“Travis Allen is either incredibly ignorant about campaign finance laws or he's simply trying to cheat his way to the Assembly. Either way, we hope the FPPC moves quickly to fine him and order him into compliance," said Edgar campaign consultant Rob Stutzman in a written statement.
The Allen campaign released a reply saying: “There were some minor clerical errors that were the responsibility of our veteran campaign treasurer. As soon as our campaign found out about the discrepancies, they were immediately remedied.”
Find out what's happening in Los Alamitos-Seal Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
In a phone interview Thursday, Edgar argued the extra $100,000 was no small matter and said Allen should “take responsibility” for the error and not blame a treasurer.
“A minor error is $100,000? They’re not minor clerical errors. They’re pretty significant,” Edgar said. “These are good indications of what this person’s attention to detail are.”
Allen campaign manager Emanuel Petrascu said Edgar was "trying to distract from his own issues. This is a desperate attempt.”
On Oct. 4, Fountain Valley resident Roy Reynolds filed a complaint against Edgar with the Federal Election Commission.
In a letter forwarded to Patch, Reynolds lists an OCWeekly story that cites two instances of Edgar using funds from his own company to pay for campaign materials during his aborted congressional campaign as evidence for an investigation into Edgar
Edgar said the campaign items in question were inadvertently directed to his company for payment.
According to Edgar, after OCWeekly’s R. Scott Moxley alerted him to the problem, the money was returned to Edgar's firm and the campaign finance statements were corrected.
Recently, Edgar and Allen squared off in a contentious debate in Fountain Valley.
The 72 Assembly District, which Allen and Edgar are contending for, will represent Seal Beach, Los Alamitos, Rossmoor, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Westminster and part of Santa Ana.
The Nov. 6 election is in 17 days.
