Election Complaint: Hammond Mayor Funneled Over $300,000 To Wife For Campaign Consulting Work

It's just another example of how broke and corrupt the political system has become. Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott, Jr. (D) has paid his wife, Marissa, over $300,000 over the past decade to perform work as a consultant for his campaign committee. An attorney for McDermott dismisses the allegations contained in a complaint filed with the Lake County Board of Elections by Republican activist Eric Krieg as "pure speculation and innuendo" and wants the complaint dismissed.

Unfortunately, there is probably nothing the elections board can do with Krieg's complaint since there's nothing in state law that prevents a candidate for public office from putting family member on the payroll of his campaign committee, although the state board of elections has recommended that candidates reduce the employment agreement to a written contract that describes the services being performed. "Brad King, co-director of the bipartisan Indiana Election Division, said last week the opinion in question was only offered by state election officials as a guideline to legislators for a potential law on this matter, but no such law was ever passed," reports Bill Dolan of the Northwest Indiana Times. This glaring loophole in the law essentially makes it legal for candidates to convert campaign contributions for personal use by putting their spouses on the campaign payroll.