The Florida Election Commission will not investigate allegations that Attorney David Paul Horan violated the state's "unfair surprise" election law when he ran a large ad in the Key West Citizen just three days before the Republican primary election on Sept. 5, attacking State Attorney candidate Michael "Mick" Barnes. The timing of the ad did not give Barnes an opportunity to respond.
Barnes subsequently lost the election to Mark Kohl by 105 votes. Kohl will face incumbent Kirk Zuelch in the general election on Nov. 7.
Last week, a spokesman for the Elections Commission said the provision of the law, which required citizens making independent expenditures of $1000 or more to support or oppose a candidate to provide written notice five days in advance, had been struck down by a federal court last December.
The court ruled that the advance-notice provision constituted prior restraint on free speech, which is prohibited by the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
Horan reported to the Supervisor of Elections that he spent only $975 on the ad. Key West The Newspaper had asked the Elections Commission to investigate, suggesting that production costs may have pushed the total cost beyond the $999 no-report threshold.
Horan denied any wrongdoing. He said that, in preparing the ad, he was not aware of any spending restrictions of notice requirements.