Marcella Corona | Reno Gazette-Journal

Brian Duggan, Anjeanette Damon and James DeHaven, Reno Gazette Journal

Courtesy of Darin Balaam

Washoe County sheriff candidate Darin Balaam filed an amended campaign finance report earlier this week after a complaint was raised alleging he accepted contributions that exceeded state campaign finance limits.

The Nevada Secretary of State’s Office notified Balaam’s campaign of the apparent violation soon after receiving a complaint early last week, according to spokeswoman Jennifer Russell.

“We sent him a letter telling him about the complaint and gave him a copy of the complaint and the allegation,” Russell said.

Election donations can't exceed $5,000

Russell said Balaam has until Nov. 8 to respond to the letter and explain any measures he took to resolve the issue. She said his campaign filed the amended report but has not responded to the letter.

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Balaam’s campaign identified the issue as a clerical error last month, which was made on one of the expense reports, spokeswoman Krystal Pyatt, of the Ferraro Group, said in an emailed statement.

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She said his campaign immediately contacted the Secretary of State's Office and was notified nothing else had to be done other than amending the report.

“The campaign had inadvertently duplicated a contribution that was made in 2017 and which was correctly documented in the annual report for 2017,” the statement said. “Once the error was discovered, the campaign immediately amended the report noting that only one contribution was made, not two, and that the campaign contribution limit of $10,000 was not exceeded.”

Nevada law limits each contributor to a $5,000 donation to a primary election campaign and a $5,000 donation to a general election campaign.

That April 20, 2017 donation of $10,000 was included in a campaign finance report filed in January under the name of “P. Lee Halavais."

A campaign finance report filed in May showed another $10,000 donation under the name of “Lee Halavais” on April 10, 2018.

Balaam's amended report doesn’t show any contributions made by Halavais. It also shows that $10,000 was deducted from the contribution total.

Balaam’s campaign also received $10,000 from High Desert Gold Corp. Halavais is listed as the president of High Desert Gold Corp., according to the Nevada Secretary of State website. That business donation doesn't affect Halavais' personal donation total.

Monica Stabbert, a member of the Republican Women's Club who filed the complaint last week, said she’s a firm believer that “everybody should play by the same rules.”

“I always follow the contributions,” Stabbert said. “I follow the money. I think everything needs to be on a fair page.”

She said she saw recent news reports about a candidate who had accepted contributions that exceeded the limit. So, she decided to do some homework of her own.

“People need to pay more attention,” Stabbert said. “It seems like they only start opening their eyes and looking at what’s going on… right before early voting starts so they can have somewhat of an informed opinion. But it all starts here locally in the city government, the state government, the county government.

“If you really want to make a difference, you have to do it at home.”

Balaam, a retired sheriff chief deputy, raised a total of $234,415. Meanwhile, his opponent Heidi Howe, a retired sheriff captain, has raised a total of $149,205 in contributions — with large amounts coming from her own pocket.

In total, Howe invested $113,050 to her own campaign, according to her finance reports.

"I did not want to take any donations of any special interest groups," Howe said. "I believe in what I’m doing and what I’m trying to accomplish in improving the culture of the agency.

"I don’t have lobbyists and developers and special interests that are driving this machine."