Gov. Jeff Landry (Photo credit: Wes Muller/Louisiana Illuminator)
Gov. Jeff Landry has asked the Louisiana Board of Ethics to waive a $100 fine for filing his 2023 annual campaign finance report late by one day in February.
The request comes a few months after the governor, who has been at odds with the ethics board for years, signed a law that gives him more control over picking ethics board members .
Landry’s spokeswoman in the governor’s office, Kate Kelly, said his campaign submitted the report in question on time, but it failed to transmit. When the ethics staff sent a notice the following day saying it had not been filed, the campaign submitted it again.
State law requires the ethics board to automatically fine candidates for major political offices $100 per day when they turn in campaign reports late. Landry is disputing that he missed the initial deadline.
“I hope one day the Illuminator can report on stories that actually matter to the people of Louisiana,” Kelly responded in a text message to questions about the fine.