Campaign finance complaint against Marshall County Council candidate withdrawn at hearing

A campaign finance complaint filed against Marshall County Council District Two Republican nominee Deb Johnson was withdrawn Friday after the complainant publicly apologized and the Election Board found no clear evidence of wrongdoing.

The Marshall County Election Board convened Friday afternoon for a formal hearing on the complaint, which had been filed in April by Terry Borggren. The complaint alleged numerous errors and reporting discrepancies in the pre-primary financial reports submitted by Johnson's campaign committee, "Conservatives for Johnson," and raised concerns about inaccurate disclaimer information on campaign materials.

Borggren contended that the disclaimer on Johnson's signs and campaign literature should have indicated that the materials were approved by Conservatives for Johnson and paid for by Tim Harmon, suggesting another individual or committee may have funded the materials.

Following the filing of the complaint, Johnson was given five days to amend her CFA-4 campaign finance form, which she did.

When the hearing convened Friday, however, it took an unexpected turn. After reviewing the matter, Election Board members struggled to identify a clear-cut violation of campaign rules.

"There's no clear — based on mostly the state election board that I can find — based on their attorneys, which different ones give us different answers, that there's a violation," said Republican Election Board member Steve Harper.

Borggren then addressed the board and formally withdrew his complaint, offering a public apology in the process.

"I would like to publicly apologize to Mrs. Johnson, the Republican Party, and the Marshall County Election Board," Borggren told those gathered. "I would like to officially withdraw my complaint. If it is too late for that, I would ask that any actions against Mrs. Johnson be minimal."

The Election Board ultimately concluded that, without sufficient guidance from the state, they could not find any wrongdoing on Johnson's part.

The hearing was attended by a number of members of the public, as well as Election Board members Republican Steve Harper and Democrat Suzie Kreighbaum, County Clerk Jenny Bennett, County Election Administrator Mindy Kielman, candidate Deb Johnson, and complainant Terry Borggren.