Heller asks candidates to disclose donations

Thursday, Dec. 18, 1997 | 8:36 a.m.

Heller also said Wednesday that new election regulations define as candidates anyone who accepts more than $100 in contributions even if they have not declared their candidacies.

The official filing period for candidates is not until May 4-18. The election is Nov. 3.

The new regulations put into effect the provisions of an election law passed by the 1997 Legislature.

Heller expects Republican governor candidate Kenny Guinn and Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa will file contribution disclosure reports by Dec. 31.

While Del Papa has withdrawn from the governor's race, Heller said he expects her to identify contributors because she fits the definition of a candidate.

Del Papa said she always has planned to file the contribution report. She raised more than $200,000 before dropping out of the race this fall. Most of the mney has been refunded.

Guinn has said he would comply with provisions of the election reform law. He reportedly has received pledges for $2 million in contributions.

The new regulations only require candidates who raised more than $10,000 in the period after Oct. 1 to submit a disclosure report. That was the date when the new law went into effect.

But Heller wants candidates voluntarily to submit contribution disclosure reports if they raised $10,000 during the year, not just since Oct. 1.

He is the state's chief election officer. His office can supply the new regulations and copies of the disclosure reports to candidates.