State’s top McCain donors apparently exceeded legal limits

The top Georgia contributors to Sen. John McCain’s presidential effort appear to have violated federal election laws by exceeding contribution limits, according to a Journal-Constitution review of campaign disclosure reports.

Barbara and Richard Gaby, who live in Duluth, each gave a total of $70,100 to committees affiliated with the McCain campaign. Those contributions alone do not exceed federal limits. However, Barbara Gaby has given a total of $123,300 to federal candidates, parties and political action committees during the ongoing two-year election cycle, according to reports compiled by the Federal Election Commission. Richard Gaby gave $130,200 during the election cycle, the reports show.

Under the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, better known as McCain-Feingold, individual contributions during a two-year cycle cannot exceed $108,200.

“It’s either remarkably sloppy or they thought, more likely, that no one would monitor their finances and figure this out,” said Craig Holman, a campaign finance lobbyist for Public Citizen, a Washington consumer organization.

Holman said a fine from the Federal Election Commission would be in order.

“Everyone who reaches that kind of limit ought to be fully aware of what the law is,” he said.

Barbara Gaby is a daughter of Jay Van Andel, co-founder of Amway, the direct-sale cleaning products company. She is a member of the board of Alticor, Amway’s parent company.

The Gabys declined to be interviewed.

In a prepared statement e-mailed to the Journal-Constitution, they said they have requested refunds. “We intended to do nothing further than exercise our right as citizens to donate to causes in line with our political beliefs,” Richard Gaby said. “As soon as we became aware of this issue, we took the necessary steps to correct it, without delay.”

FEC spokesman Bob Biersack said it investigates all complaints related to campaign giving and it can negotiate a settlement or pursue the case as a civil matter in federal court. In cases where a violation is willful, the law allows criminal prosecution.

The Gabys made contributions to a variety of political action committees and Republican candidates.

They each made contributions totaling $67,800 to McCain Victory 2008 and McCain-Palin Victory 2008, according to the FEC reports. Those are joint fund-raising committees organized by the McCain campaign that collect contributions and dole out money to various party committees.

They also each gave $2,300 to a McCain campaign fund.