Kapanke admits to bigger payment

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (AP) - Congressional candidate and state Sen. Dan Kapanke said he used twice as much money from a charitable foundation to pay off personal debts as had been reported, but he paid the money back.

Kapanke told the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram on Thursday that the La Crosse Loggers Foundation made two payments totaling about $32,000 to pay for lights installed at the field of a baseball team he co-owns with his wife.

Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate filed a complaint Wednesday with the state Government Accountability Board alleging the foundation made an illegal payment of nearly $17,000 on Kapanke's behalf in 2009.

The foundation, which accepts money from groups that employ lobbyists, is a charitable organization separate from the team called the La Crosse Loggers.

State law prohibits legislators from accepting money from lobbyists for personal use.

"I could see that there's a potential conflict there, so we reimbursed the foundation," Kapanke said. He and Bruce Evers are seeking the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic U.S. Rep. Ron Kind in the 3rd District. The primary is Sept. 14.

Kapanke set up the foundation in 2006 to accept donations and distribute the money to community groups. He said his wife and son are members of the foundation but he is not and he normally isn't aware of its day-to-day financial affairs.

He authorized the team to reimburse the foundation Wednesday for the 2009 payment and another slightly smaller payment made in June 2010.

Though Kapanke said the payment was a mistake, he noted that Copeland Field, where the Loggers play, is used by many other teams and thus improvements serve the entire community.

But state Democratic Party spokesman Graeme Zielinski said Kapanke is both justifying his actions and admitting they were wrong.

"This isn't some innocent mistake. This is a crime," Zielinski said. "This is the kind of thing people go to jail for. This is high sleaze."

Tate said Kapanke apparently didn't admit to the problem or repay the foundation until Democrats reviewed the foundation's recently filed 2009 tax return. Tate called on Kapanke to resign his state Senate seat.