Findings
Prompts to look closer at the public records, each with the rule and the law it rests on. None is a finding of wrongdoing. All findings
Worth a look Ethics Commission
Before the Ethics Commission (2024-10-30): Request for Penalty Waiver – Candidate Flavia DeBrito
Flavia DeBrito, a candidate for the Maine House of Representatives, was required to file a campaign finance report on September 24, 2024, forty-two days before the general election. She filed the report one day late. She requests a waiver of a preliminary penalty of $64.90 because her treasurer was ill and the report included a large number of contributions. Staff recommendation: the staff recommends no waiver because the preliminary penalty is already below the normal range of penalties assessed when a candidate files a report late. The motion: “To find the report was filed late and access a penalty of $64.90” Vote: 5-0.
What to check- The Commission's decision, in the motion and the minutes
The Commission's meeting of 2024-10-30The staff memo
Rule: Late-filing penalty before the Ethics Commission
“A campaign finance report is not timely filed unless a properly signed or electronically submitted copy of the report, substantially conforming to the disclosure requirements of this subchapter, is received by the commission by 11:59 p.m. on the date it is due.”21-A MRSA §1020-A(2) ✓ quoted from the saved copy · how this rule works
Named in lobbyists' reports
Events and spending on officials that lobbyists reported to the Ethics Commission since 2024 and whose list of officials names Flavia DeBrito: 6 from 5 clients. The cost is the whole event's or item's, shared by everyone it names, not what was spent on them.
| Client (lobbyist) | What, when | Cost (all named) |
|---|
Maine Center for Economic Policy
Maura Pillsbury | Event: Lunch and Learn on Guaranteed Basic Income in Maine · February 2026 · names 18 members | $315.20 |
| Event: luncheon briefing · January 2026 · names 35 members | $505.19 |
Maine Council on Aging
Jessica Fay | Event: Caucus on Aging - Lunch and Learn · March 2026 · names 28 members | $335 |
Bioscience Association of Maine (BioME)
Michael Saxl | Event: Life Sciences Lunch and Learn · February 2026 · names 26 members | $511.47 |
DraftKings Inc.
Michael Saxl | Event: Lunch and Learn Re: LD 1164 · June 2025 · names 98 members | $1,676.92 |
Maine Children's Alliance
Rita Furlow | Event: Legislative Reception · May 2025 · names 8 members | $3,328.52 |
Matched by name and title (“Rep. Bell”, “Senator Brad Farrin”); a name that fits two members isn't counted. Check the reports on the lobbying system.
Campaign money: Representative · Clean Election
$7,723raised to date (the Commission's list, October 17, 2026); $1,289 spent
$523itemized in 2026, 8 contributions
$7,300Clean Election funding paid this year
$0from the candidate (incl. loans)
$6,434cash on hand on September 15, 2026 (42 Day Pre General Mcea Report)
$348debts and loans owed, as of that report
Where their contributions come from
100%
IndividualsBusinessesTrade, professional and issue groupsLabor unionsTribal nationsPolitical partiesOther candidates and officeholders
Compare with all 2026 candidates →
How it was spent: $886
Newspaper and print ads$519
Website$278
Palm cards, signs, stickers$69
Bank and other fees$21
Largest payees: Turner Publishing Inc $519 Newspaper and print ads · squarespace inc $278 Website · walmart $69 Palm cards, signs, stickers · ActBlue $21 Bank and other fees
Payments in 2026, by the Ethics Commission's expenditure codes.
| Top contributors | Type | Total |
|---|
Joseph Andreozzi
general business · Raytheon · waterville | Person | $200 |
Scott Harriman
government civil · City of Lewiston · Lewiston | Person | $100 |
Karen Kusiak
teacher education · University of Maine · Fairfield | Person | $100 |
Kiara Andreozzi
healthcare medical · Butler Hospital · Waterville | Person | $50 |
Anna Cyr
government civil · state of maine · Leeds | Person | $25 |
Cherie Cruz
general business · Reclaim RI · Pawtucket | Person | $25 |
Rachel M Isaacs
clergy faith based · Colby College · WATERVILLE | Person | $18 |
Mary Pletcher
general business · Manpower · Waterville | Person | $5 |
DeBrito, Flavia on the Ethics Commission's campaign finance search. Itemized transactions: 2026 from the Commission's files as posted October 17, 2026, and 2025 from the campaign's own reports.