AOC challenger hit with FEC complaint

Progressive political organization Justice Democrats PAC has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against Marty Dolan, the long-shot candidate challenging progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The complaint, a copy of which was obtained by City & State, accuses Dolan of making a litany of errors in his campaign finance filings.

For starters, the complaint alleges that the Dolan campaign’s April Quarterly Report lists Dolan as a candidate for the 16th Congressional District (Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s district), rather than the 14th Congressional District (Ocasio-Cortez’s district). Dolan initially filed to run against Bowman – who currently faces a strong primary challenge from Westchester County Executive George Latimer – but later switched to challenging Ocasio-Cortez.

The complaint also accuses Dolan, who serves as his campaign’s treasurer, of failing to comply with requirements to disclose his donors’ occupations, improperly bundling or failing to disclose the reasoning for some campaign expenditures, misrepresenting the status of a loan that the campaign repaid to Dolan and failing to adequately maintain his campaign’s petty cash fund. The complaint covers his filing for the first quarter of 2024, running from January to the end of March. 

“Whether out of ignorance or avoidance, MartyDolanForCongress has filed a severely

deficient report that flaunts the Act’s crucial disclosure requirements,” the complaint states. “Unfortunately for Respondents, this is a violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act. The FEC should penalize them accordingly.”

Dolan told City & State that he plans to rectify any errors in his campaign filing. “It’s very important that the rules are followed,” he said.

Before seeking elected office, Dolan worked in the financial sector, working as a managing director at companies like Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase. In March, he announced a primary challenge to Ocasio-Cortez, the best-known member of “The Squad,” a group of progressive lawmakers in Congress. The Democratic primary is scheduled for June 25.