A prominent Cobb County Democrat has filed an ethics complaint against Barry Loudermilk, claiming the 11th District Republican congressman has used his old state campaign account to funnel money to his congressional fund.
A Loudermilk campaign spokesman dismissed the complaint as merit-less and "partisan hooey."
Will Fowlkes of Kennesaw filed the complaint last week with the Department of Justice, the FBI, the Federal Election Commission and the Office of Congressional Ethics. Fowlkes is a former Cobb County Democratic Party chairman and national convention delegate.
In it, Fowlkes claims that after announcing his bid for Congress in 2013, then state Sen. Loudermilk made a series of contributions to other elected officials from his Senate campaign account. Those officials then made contributions to Loudermilk's federal account.
Federal law says a candidate for U.S. House or Senate may not use state campaign funds for federal races.
A similar complaint was recently filed against U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Pooler, although Fowlkes also accuses Loudermilk of inappropriately paying his wife from his federal campaign account.
Loudermilk campaign spokesman Dan McLagan said Fowlkes complaint "is just political silliness. Frankly, I think Americans with jobs and grown up pants are tired of them."
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