A Maryland State Board of Elections official ruled Wednesday to dismiss a campaign finance complaint brought against Democratic County Council candidate Jon Weinstein.
Weinstein's opponent in the race for District 1 County Council, Republican Kevin Forrest Schmidt, filed a complaint with the Board of Elections in late September, alleging that donations Weinstein received from various limited liability companies owned by a local developer violated contribution limits in campaign finance law.
But on Wednesday, Jared DeMarinis, the director of the campaign finance and candidacy division at the state Board of Elections, said in an email that he had "reviewed the complaint and found no violation of election law.
"Limited liability companies are not corporations," DeMarinis wrote. "The fact that they share common ownership or control does not make them affiliated for contribution purposes."
Current campaign finance law allows each individual LLC to donate up to the state limit of $4,000 per campaign. If one person owns multiple LLCs, they can contribute up to $4,000 from each.
DeMarinis noted that the law is slated to change Jan. 1, 2015, at which point owners of multiple LLCs will be held to the same total contribution limit of $4,000.