Ross Spano, an attorney and former member of the Florida House of Representatives, is under a torrent of criticism over $174,000 in campaign loans that he has admitted are likely in violation of campaign finance limits. | AP Photo FEC flags Spano donations funneled through Club for Growth

TALLAHASSEE — Embattled U.S. Rep.-elect Ross Spano, already facing accusations that he made potentially illegal loans to his campaign, last month had more than $75,000 in contributions flagged by federal elections officials for potentially insufficient reporting.

The campaign cash was bundled by Club for Growth, a conservative special-interest group that often funnels small-dollar contributions to candidates it supports. Spano’s campaign failed to itemize Club for Growth donors who gave more than $200 to his campaign, as required by federal law.


A Spano spokesperson called the matter a simple “clerical error,” but it’s another black eye for the incoming rookie congressman, who increasingly faces a first term tarnished by campaign finance woes.

“Your report discloses contributions through a conduit but fails to disclose the original earmarked contributions,” Bradley Austin, an FEC analyst, wrote in a Dec. 27 letter to Spano’s new campaign treasurer, Robert Phillips.

A Club for Growth spokesperson declined to comment. The group, like other bundlers, typically sends donor specifics to campaigns, which then must identify the source of gifts greater than $200.

Sandi Poreda, a Spano spokesperson, said the Club for Growth reporting “appears to be a clerical error that can be easily fixed.”

Spano, an attorney and former member of the Florida House of Representatives, is under a torrent of criticism over $174,000 in campaign loans that he has admitted are likely in violation of campaign finance limits. Coupled with the $75,521 now flagged by the FEC, nearly one-third of the $881,321 brought in his campaign is under some form of scrutiny.

Spano loaned his congressional campaign $174,500 at about the same time he borrowed $180,000 from two friends. The loans, first reported by the Tampa Bay Times, weren’t disclosed for two months.

Poreda said the candidate’s loans to his campaign have been repaid in full out of proceeds from the sale of his law firm.

The bulk of the personal loans made to Spano came from Cary Carreno, a longtime friend who advanced the candidate $110,000. POLITICO reported last month that Carreno was helping Spano interview job applicants for his congressional office.

The remaining loans came from Karen Hunt, also a Spano friend. If the FEC determines that the personal loans were designed to help Spano’s campaign, they would violate the contribution cap of $2,700 per election cycle per contributor.

Spano has hired Washington legal heavyweight Elliot Berke, a managing partner with the firm Berke Farah, to represent him in the FEC matter. In a Nov. 30 letter to the FEC, Berke said Spano might have violated campaign finance law and blamed former campaign treasurer Jamie Jodoin, who was fired after the loans became public.

"The respondents seek the advice and recommendations from it to fully address this matter and adopt additional corrective measure," Berke wrote.

Spano’s Democratic opponent Kristen Carlson and former Republican state Rep. Neil Combee have asked for an FBI investigation into the issue.