Candidate for county treasurer drops out of race

FARMINGTON – The Republican candidate for Franklin County treasurer, Joanne Karkos of East Dixfield, has dropped out of the race. She cited a law which prevents federal employees from running in a bipartisan election as the reason for her departure.

Her withdrawal from the race marks the end of an unusual campaign that was plagued by complaints from her opponent and the state’s ethics commission investigating those allegations.

Karkos, currently a postmaster who has worked as a U.S. Postal  Service employee for 28 years, quit the race earlier this month after she was informed that the Hatch Act law, or An Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activities, prevents federal government employees from participating in certain political activities. Included in the law’s prohibited political activity is running in a bipartisan election for county treasurer.

Current county treasurer, Mary Frank, a Republican, decided not to run for another four-year term. Democrat Pamela Prodan of Wilton entered the race. Karkos was a late entry as the lone Republican candidate for county treasurer in the June 10 primary election after another candidate at the last minute had decided not to run. She began her write-in campaign to be her party’s nominee on May 7 and successfully got the more than 300 votes required to get her name on the November election ballot.

According to documents filed with the state’s Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices, Prodan made a complaint that Karkos had made campaign expenditures even through she wasn’t supposed to after filing for an exemption from disclosing her campaign financial information.

Karkos had completed and signed the section of the registration form for county candidates that requests an exemption from filing a campaign financial report. In exchange, a candidate agrees to not accept donations or contribute to his or her campaign. The exemption allows county and municipal candidates to run for office without having the burden of appointing a treasurer and filing campaign finance reports.

In late May, Karkos ordered political signs be made and took out ads in two local newspapers, according to the ethics commission, and she did not file a finance report by the May 30 deadline.

On June 6, Prodan first called the Ethics Commission to complain that Karkos had ordered political signs. Karkos was called by the commission that same day and confirmed she had ordered and had received the signs, but had not paid for them. She told the commission’s candidate registrar, Elizabeth Hudson, “that she did not understand that using personal funds for her campaign was considered accepting a contribution or making an expenditure for her campaign,” according to a memo to the ethics board.

Karkos was asked to revoke her exemption request and file campaign finance reports. Karkos, the memo noted, immediately submitted the required paperwork.

On the day before the primary, Prodan’s formal complaint was received by the commission. In it, Prodan reiterated her objection to Karkos contributing to her own campaign by ordering campaign signs and handing out small notes promoting her candidacy and that Republican candidate Tom Skolfield of Weld had also contributed to Karkos’ campaign by mailing flyers urging residents to write in her name in the June 10 primary election, despite having an exemption from filing financial reports.

“In spite of the fact that Joanne Karkos now says she will revoke her exempt status and begin filing reports, even if she files a report today, one day from the primary election, filing a report at this late date is not adequate disclosure to the public of the information that should have already been disclosed before now. Where appropriate, I hope all civil penalties will be applied,” Prodan wrote.

Karkos admitted she did make note cards worth $5 and she ordered campaign signs totaling $372.79, which she paid for on June 11. She also paid for two newspaper ads totaling about $80. In a letter to the commission, Skolfield said he did mail out notes to residents urging support for the Karkos campaign but said that the candidate didn’t know about it. The Kevin Raye for Congress campaign submitted an expenditure report to the commission that it had paid for a local radio ad in support of Karkos, without her knowledge.

In a June 9 letter to the commission, Karkos said she thought the exempt status meant that if she paid for all of the expenditures herself, she wouldn’t have to file a financial report.

“It was through my lack of knowledge of the political campaign process that led to this complaint,” she wrote, adding she was “totally shocked” to think she’d made a mistake and immediately tried to rectify the situation.

On Wednesday, Karkos said that in the end, there had been no penalty imposed by the commission and she just had to resubmit the correct filing without asking for an exemption and file a campaign financial report.

“They (the commission) told me it’s a common mistake made,” she said of the exemption error.

The Hatch Act, disqualifying her from running for treasurer, also came as a shock.

“I’ve been working here at the Post office for 28 years and I’ve never heard of it,” she said of the federal law. The news was brought to her attention earlier this month by someone Karkos didn’t name, but said was affiliated with the local Democrats.

Her last day as a postal employee is Sept. 30, when her scheduled retirement officially begins.

She’s not sure what she will do next, she said. A call to Prodan for comment was not immediately returned.