Grounded Again: Sen. Jungbauer Fined for Using Funds to Land Deals on Model Airplanes

Model airplanes are at the heart of a lengthy ruling by the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board against the volunteer committee of Republican Sen. Mike Jungbauer of East Bethel. The decision (PDF) charges the campaign, specifically Jungbauer, with knowingly accepting campaign contributions in the form of a discount on model airplanes, an in-kind donation. Jungbauer was also fined for campaign finance violations in October 2006 for an in-kind donation from an aviation museum.(PDF).

According to board documents, Jungbauer asked friend Craig Schiller in spring 2006 to help him “acquire some airplane models for his office.” Schiller told David Bollick, a salesman at Historic Sales, that Jungbauer “was a state senator and that he was interested in airport issues” and that he had “been helpful at the Legislature on airport issues,” and arranged for Jungbauer to purchase 13 model airplanes. The models were purchased at a wholesale discount not available to the general public.

Jungbauer also told Bollick that the models were for individual use for his office, and purchased the planes with a check written on his campaign committee account. Using campaign funds for personal use is a violation of campaign finance law.

Even though two witnesses testified to the board that the models were for Jungbauer’s personal use, he told the board that they were part of a campaign fund-raiser.

Last fall, the Jungbauer campaign ran into problems when the campaign finance board found that Jungbauer had accepted an illegal corporate campaign contribution in excess of the $500 allowable. He was fined $500. The board also ordered the campaign to amend its reports to include an in-kind donation from an aviation museum.

In last week’s decision, the board noted that Jungbauer was aware of the law surrounding in-kind donations and cited the previous decision against him. This time, the campaign was ordered to pay close to $2,000 in fines, including $1,000 in civil penalties and $432 for exceeding contribution limits. The campaign also was ordered to send $532 to Historic Sales, the amount of the discount given for the planes.

The board also chastised Jungbauer for having his wife, Vicki, registered as treasurer of the campaign committee. At a probable cause hearing, Vicki Jungbauer testified that while she was listed as the campaign’s treasurer she was “not involved in things such as bookkeeping or creating bank deposit slips,” and that she had “never prepared or signed” a campaign finance report for the board.

Sen. Jungbauer was told by the board last week that the “person actually carrying out the statutory responsibilities of the treasurer” must be registered with the state or the board would hand the matter over to the attorney general’s office.

“We were trying to think outside the box on my influence in aviation and do stuff that any chamber of commerce and other organizations do, like have silent auctions,” Jungbauer told WCCO. On the campaign finance complaint, he said, “It’s the politics of personal destruction.”

Last fall, Sen. Jungbauer narrowly won re-election against DFL candidate Mike Starr — 51 percent to 49 percent.