A District 10 Democrat has accused Republican Doug Quelland of a campaign finance violation that, if verified and upheld, could threaten Quelland's election to the state House and force him to pay thousands of dollars in fines.

Carol Vandercook filed a complaint Nov. 12 with Arizona election officials, accusing Quelland of entering into a $15,000 contract with a consultant before filing an intent to seek office, which would be a violation of state campaign finance law.

But Quelland, a businessman who this month narrowly defeated incumbent Democrat Jackie Thrasher, insisted the allegations are false and said that he broke off his arrangement with Intermedia Public Relations President Larry Davis within 24 hours of his signing the contract.

Quelland said the business relationship ended when he learned of the consultant's intent to release personal information about Thrasher's family. The deal ended without any money being paid to the firm, he said.

Quelland said the consultant freely agreed to terminate the contract.

"My campaign or me personally have never paid him a dime for anything," said Quelland, calling the complaint "moot" before abruptly ending an interview with the ~Capitol Times.~

By state law, candidates must register campaign committees before spending any money, accepting contributions or engaging in other campaign-related activities, such as distributing literature or circulating nominating petitions.

According to state records, Quelland did not register his campaign committee until April 25, 2007, and expenditures to Davis' consulting business are not listed on any of the candidate's campaign finance reports. Quelland ran as a Clean Elections candidate.

Davis refused to comment when contacted by the ~Arizona Capitol Times.~

Still, Quelland's campaign Web site notes the site was created by Intermedia Public Relations.

In the complaint filed with the Secretary of State's Office and the Citizens Clean Election Commission, Vandercook included what appears to be a copy of a March 2007 contract entered between Quelland and Davis to secure services such as consulting, database and Web site management, fundraising and polling.

Vandercook alleged the pre-primary election spending was  significant enough to trigger a state law that would require Quelland's removal because the amount is greater than 10 percent of his adjusted primary and general election campaign-funding allotments.

Known in political circles, as the "death penalty," the punishment prescribed by the Clean Elections Act has been levied only once since 1998 when the law went into effect.

In 2006, Republican District 7 Rep. David Burnell Smith was ejected from office for overspending his 2004 primary campaign by $6,000 and maintaining vague campaign finance records.

Todd Lang, executive director of the Citizens Clean Elections Commission, and Joseph Kanefield, the state elections director under Secretary of State Jan Brewer, declined to comment on the merits of the complaint. Quelland has not been given an opportunity to refute the allegations.

"At this point, it is still an allegation," said Kanefield, who added the Secretary of State's Office will contact Quelland by mail within several days.

Vandercook suggested in the complaint that Quelland could be fined thousands of dollars for violating financial limits applied to his personal contribution amounts, aggregate early contributions and primary election spending. The total fine also could include daily penalties and compounding multipliers that can be leveled in civil cases involving violations of campaign finance reporting requirements.

Vanderpool said she did not author the complaint, which included complex legal language and a code on the last page of the complaint that is characteristic of filings by law offices. She would not say whom she's spoken with regarding the complaint, nor would she say who authored it.

But attorney Jim Barton later took credit for writing the document and said he was retained by Vandercook to do so.

Thrasher, who lost to Quelland by 661 votes for the second District 10 House seat, said she had no involvement with the complaint. She said anonymous e-mails and letters detailing the allegations against her Republican competitor have been circulating in the district for some time.

"I can't imagine it to be true," she said, adding Quelland is known for being a "staunch supporter of Clean Elections."

Thrasher said she was not made aware of the complaint until after its filing. She said she was contacted by Vandercook, a District 10 Democrat who apparently "thought I should know about it."

On Jan. 26, 2006, Smith was ordered by the Arizona Supreme Court to vacate his office by midnight after fighting a lengthy court battle that tested the authority of the Citizens Clean Elections Commission to remove sitting lawmakers.

The attorney also was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and repay $34,000 in state funds given to his campaign. However, that amount was reduced after Smith appealed to the Citizens Clean Elections Commission.

Smith's departure made him the first sitting legislator in the United States to be removed from office from a campaign finance-related offense.