The Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC) issued a $1,769.20 penalty against 2024 Democratic Primary Candidate Melissa Santana and a second $600 penalty against her campaign treasurer Anna Nicolin after the SEEC determined the campaign spent state election money on wardrobe purchases at Macy’s, kept a security deposit paid for with tax dollars, and found Nicolin wasn’t registered to vote.
Santana had run a primary campaign in 2024 to unseat Rep. Bob Godfrey, D-Danbury. Santana received $36,400 in Citizens Election Program (CEP) funds but ultimately lost the primary by a wide margin.
According to the SEEC’s findings, Santana’s campaign paid a $1,269.20 security deposit for a campaign headquarters but failed to return that deposit after the campaign ended. Under Connecticut’s CEP laws, unspent CEP funds must be returned. Instead, the SEEC determined that Santana kept the deposit money.
According to campaign treasurer Nicolin, the first-time candidate and first-time treasurer believed they would win the primary and retain the campaign headquarters through the general election. When Santana lost the primary election, however, Nicolin says Santana began to assume the rental payments herself and kept the security deposit as reimbursement for her costs.
However, the SEEC found the invoices submitted by Nicolin “are addressed to and show payment from the Committee,” and “nothing in the filings identify payments made by the candidate and a subsequent request for reimbursement.”
The SEEC also investigated $500 worth of purchases at Macy’s, which Nicolin explained were clothes Santana needed for a campaign photo shoot, and sent in photos of Santana purportedly wearing the clothes. However, the investigation found that some of the suits purchased at Macy’s were men’s suits.
Campaign treasurer Nicolin was also penalized $600 for not returning the security deposit and the Macy’s purchases, but the Commission also found she was ineligible to even serve as treasurer because she was not registered to vote in Connecticut.
“The gravity of the multiple violations in this case, including the improper payments and expenditures for the benefit of the candidate, the failure to return surplus funds, and the Respondent being unqualified to be a treasurer in the first instance are aggravating circumstances,” the SEEC wrote regarding a penalty determination.
However, the Commission also found that Nicolin “cooperated with the Commission staff’s investigation by promptly and honestly responding to questions and providing information and documents when requested,” and had no prior history before the Commission.
Connecticut’s Citizens Election Program provides taxpayer funds for election campaigns, provided a candidate receives donations from a certain number of supporters. The program began in the wake of the Gov. John Rowland scandal and was meant to allow candidates to run without relying on “special interest money,” which now largely goes toward independent expenditure organizations that either support or oppose a candidate.
Escalating amounts of CEP funds are awarded based on the office being sought and how competitive the candidate’s district is, however, funds are awarded to candidates who do not have an opponent. Although unspent campaign funds must be returned to the state, only a small portion of funds go unspent.
An investigation by Inside Investigator found that since the program’s inception, campaign spending has tripled with losing candidates outspending the winners. The program, however, is voluntary and comes with some restrictions on how the money can be spent and messaging. Wealthy candidates like Gov. Ned Lamont can self-fund their campaigns if they choose.
SEEC initiated the audit into Santana’s campaign as part of their post-election audit lottery.
Godfrey, who is in his 19th term as state representative and was just awarded a CEP grant, went on to win the general election against Austin Monteiro in 2024 and is currently facing Republican Anthony Rongetti.
Was this article helpful?
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
