If Maryland State Board of Elections records are to be believed, about 175 individuals, businesses and other donors exceeded state campaign finance laws when they gave to gubernatorial campaigns during an eight-week period before the Nov. 7 general election.
But an Examiner analysis of about 2,300 pages of the complete records submitted by the campaigns, on file at the board?s Annapolis office, found serious misrepresentations in just how much a donor has given during the current four-year election cycle. The records make it appear that the campaign committees of Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich and his Democratic challenger, Baltimore Mayorand now Gov.-elect Martin O?Malley, accepted more than $315,000 in donations between August and Oct. 22 that violated Maryland?s contribution limits.
