Complaint Alleges Felony Filing Violation

Accusations are flying regarding a local school board candidate and a possible felony election law violation, but the candidate says he did nothing wrong.

A confidential complaint was filed Tuesday with the Florida Elections Commission over contributions documented in Spring Hill insurance agent James Yant's campaign finance filing for the District 4 school board seat.

There are several contributions from his insurance company, J.C. Yant Insurance Inc., that total more than $5,000. That violates the election law that states an individual contributor can only give $500, the complaint alleges.

But Yant maintained those are contributions from himself to his own campaign. He's an incorporated State Farm agent, and that is his own money - his company has given him nothing, he said.

"They are trying to complain about something that has no substance," he said.

As of July 18, Yant had raised $12,615 and spent $10,335.

Yant said several friends who own State Farm offices contributed to his campaign, but not more than $500. He said he did not declare his own contributions as loans - which candidates can do on an unlimited basis - because he did not intend on using campaign money to pay himself back.

Instead, he intended on donating any leftover campaign funds to the Hernando County-based charities Big Brothers and Big Sisters or Youth Recovery Services.

"I don't intend to take money from others and pay myself back," he said. "I intend to donate any leftover funds to charity."

The names of the people who file complaints are not made public, though Hernando Today obtained a redacted copy of the notarized documents.

Yant said he felt surprised by the complaint, which he suspected as a move to blemish his campaign.

"It seems as though someone is trying to make it seem as if I did something wrong intentionally," he said. "I would never do anything like that. The (rules) say you can contribute as much as you can to yourself, and that's what I was doing."

Candidates are allowed to make unlimited contributions or loans to themselves, but it must be confirmed with the state.

Yant said he intends to double-check with the elections office regarding any needed changes prior to Aug. 8, the next deadline to report campaign contributions.

"They might want me to go in and do a revision," he said. "That's the only thing that could result from this - a revision of the form I sent in."

Tallahassee-based FEC Investigator Donna Malphurs said she could not confirm or deny receipt of the complaint, and would not be able to comment on specifics until a probable cause determination is made, which likely would not occur until February.

One of Yant's opponents, Spring Hill human resource consultant Gene Magrini, also ran into a minor glitch when he filed his campaign finance form a day after its due date.

However, he technically filed it on time. He submitted his information online using the office's electronic submission system, and did not realize he also needed to submit a hard copy until the next day.

"My assumption, when I submitted it and it was accepted, was that I had met my requirements for filing," Magrini said. "It was my error. I submitted it the following business day and that was that."

If told to pay a $50 fine, it will be paid out-of-pocket, not out of his campaign funds, he added.

The two are running for the District 4 school board seat currently held by longtime board member Jim Malcolm, who is retiring.

Also running for the seat is Spring Hill engineer Robert Neuhausen.