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State representative charged with violating election laws

Complaint says Kimberly Daniels used $4K in campaign funds for personal ad

Kimberly Daniels

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – State Rep. Kimberly Daniels is facing elections violations charges related to her 2015 campaign for Jacksonville City Council.

A complaint was filed against Daniels with the Florida Elections Commission in March 2015, as Daniels was running for re-election to the City Council.

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Daniels won re-election to her council seat and in 2016 successfully ran for the state House of Representatives.

READ: Order of probable cause against Kimberly Daniels

The complaint claimed Daniels spent $4,000 in campaign funds on an ad in Shofar Magazine, but no political ad was ever printed in the magazine. Instead, an ad for her book “Demon Dictionary” ran in the magazine, along with an article written by Daniels, according to the complaint, which said no political disclaimer ran on either the ad or the article.

The FEC sent Daniels a letter in September 2015 letting her know it would be investigating the complaint.

That investigation led to a report and staff recommendation, which prompted a probable cause hearing at the commission’s Feb. 28 meeting this year. The commission voted 7-0 that there was probable cause to charge Daniels with three violations:

  • On March 1, 2014, using money from her campaign account to defray normal living expenses.
  • On March 1, 2014, making or authorizing an expenditure prohibited by Florida law
  • On April 9, 2014, falsely reporting information required by Florida law
  • At this point, Daniels has several options for resolving the charges:

  • A consent order in which she and commission staff agree to a fine to resolve the violations
  • An informal hearing in which she does not dispute any facts of the staff recommendation, but can make arguments about the legal issues of the violation and the potential fine
  • A formal hearing before an administrative law judge in which she can dispute any material fact in the staff recommendation.
  • News4Jax is attempting to contact Daniels for comment.


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    Tarik anchors the 4, 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. weekday newscasts and reports with the I-TEAM.

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