Wendy Davis and Battleground Texas fined $6,000 for 2014 campaign miscues

In this Sept. 11, 2014 photo, Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis visits with supporters at a book signing in Austin, Texas. Davis is expected to lose the Texas governorâ??s race, but that could be a long-term win for Democrats. The state senator from Fort Worth has shattered fundraising records, breathed life into a Texas Democratic Party mired in the nationâ??s longest political losing streak and stepped up to run in a race that looks unwinnable, buying time to groom a political bench that could face easier future elections. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) less In this Sept. 11, 2014 photo, Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis visits with supporters at a book signing in Austin, Texas. Davis is expected to lose the Texas governorâ??s race, but that ... more Photo: Eric Gay, STF / AP Photo: Eric Gay, STF / AP Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Wendy Davis and Battleground Texas fined $6,000 for 2014 campaign miscues 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

AUSTIN — Onetime Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Wendy Davis and her fundraising ally Battleground Texas have been fined a total of $6,000 for campaign-finance violations during her 2014 statewide race.

Two orders posted Wednesday by the Texas Ethics Commission show Davis’ campaign and Battleground Texas, which teamed up with Davis in fundraising through an entity called the Texas Victory Committee, have agreed to pay a $3,000 penalty each for not reporting about $3.4 million in contributions promptly.

The commission ruled that the donations should have been reported on the January 2014 campaign-finance disclosure reports of the Davis campaign and Battleground Texas, instead of on subsequent reports in July. The two groups raised money for Davis’ campaign with the agreement that it would be split evenly between the two organizations, according to the order.

“Davis PAC and Battleground were entitled to about $1.7 million each in political contributions during the January 2014 semiannual reporting period, but did not report the acceptance of these contributions until the contributions were actually transferred to them from (the Texas Victory Committee, in a subsequent reporting period,” the order states.

The order notes that the disclosure reports filed by the two organizations “evinced a good-faith attempt . . . to comply with Texas disclosure laws for a somewhat complicated and novel fundraising operation not explicitly contemplated by state law.”

And while the Texas Victory Committee promptly reported the donations to Davis’ campaign and Battleground Texas, those two organizations should have also promptly disclosed the contributions under state law. Because Davis’ campaign and Battleground Texas insisted they had reported the donations the way they did “so that there was no question regarding transparency,” the commission said a larger fine was mitigated.

When Davis, a former state senator from Fort Worth, ran for governor, Battleground Texas was established to drive turnout and energize Democratic voters in what party officials hoped would fuel a statewide movement. Davis, who spent more than $40 million on her race, lost by 20 percentage points to Republican Greg Abbott.

The order made public on Wednesday states that the civil penalties have been agreed to by by organizations.

Neither Davis nor Battleground Texas could immediately be reached for comment.

Mike Ward covers Texas politics, including the governor and Executive Branch, criminal justice and investigations as the Austin Bureau chief. He hosts the weekly Texas Take podcast on Lone Star politics. Send him story tips at Mike.Ward@Chron.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChronicleMike.