Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne may be looking to settle campaign finance charges before a scheduled hearing. Horne and his employee Kathleen Winn are accused of illegally coordinating campaign spending.
During the 2010 election, Winn was running an independent expenditure committee called Business Leaders for Arizona. Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk investigated the alleged coordination and found Horne and Winn violated state campaign finance rules. She ordered Horne to return almost $400,000 to donors and amend his campaign finance reports. Polk is also seeking civil penalties.
Both Horne and Winn deny the charges. Lawyers for Horne have asked an administrative law judge to schedule a settlement conference before the case is heard next month. As of Tuesday afternoon, Winn’s attorney had not asked for a settlement conference.