Members of the Citizens Clean Elections Commission will be urged on Dec. 18 to approve the launching of a formal and more detailed investigation into the campaign finances of Rep.-elect Doug Quelland.

Todd Lang, the commission's executive director, said he will recommend that the agency's five voting members find reason to believe that Quelland may have violated the Citizens Clean Elections Act.

In November, Quelland, a District 10 Republican who opted to run a publicly funded campaign, defeated Democrat incumbent Jackie Thrasher by fewer than 700 voters to assume the district's second seat in the Arizona House of Representatives.

However, soon after the election, a Democrat in the district filed a complaint alleging Quelland had illegally entered into a contract with a Phoenix consultant and failed to report $15,000 in campaign expenditures.

Quelland has maintained he immediately terminated the 2007 contract with consultant Larry Davis. But Quelland's claims have been met with anger by Davis, who claims he performed services for Quelland and received compensation during the candidate's 2008 campaign for office.

Lang said the "stark contrasts" of opinion between the pair warrant a more careful investigation.

"Obviously, we have a huge disagreement between Mr. Davis and Mr. Quelland," he said. "I think it merits further inquiry."

The Citizens Clean Elections Act governs publicly funded candidates who pledge not to accept substantial amounts of private contributions or to spend personal money on their political campaigns.

The act demands that candidates who exceed their expenditure limits by greater than 10 percent be removed from office. Quelland, as a participating candidate, received $71,000 to run his primary and general elections campaigns.

Lang pointed out that Quelland has not been found to have committed any violation.

However, if Davis' claims that the contract was never terminated are substantiated by the commission, the $15,000 value of the agreement would place Quelland at twice the 10 percent overspending threshold and leave him subject to removal from office.

Quelland received the second-highest number of votes in the district, trailing only House Speaker Jim Weiers. Quelland was elected to the House in 2002 and again in 2004, but was defeated by Thrasher in 2006.