A federal probe into donations to two Ohio Republican candidates puts a spotlight on the complex web of campaign contribution limits — where at least 80 separate state and federal standards govern how an individual, a political party, a political action committee, or even a 7-year-old can donate thousands of dollars to a political campaign.

The ongoing investigation at the Suarez Corporation specifically involves the $5,000 contribution limit from an individual to a federal candidate, and whether frequent Republican donor Benjamin Suarez tried to skirt that limit.

But that $5,000 standard is far from uniform across the political spectrum. A national or state political party could give that federal candidate $10,000 this year, and a fellow candidate could give $4,000.

The differences are much larger at the state and local level.

Any individual age 7 or older can give a state House or state Senate candidate on Ohio’s November ballot up to $23,087.40 this year.

Children can donate because of a Supreme Court ruling protecting political speech rights.

And there is no limit at all on what an individual can give to a candidate for county, city or other local office.

“Ohio’s contribution limits only apply to statewide candidates,” said Philip Richter, executive director of the Ohio Elections Commission. “If you’re running for county commission, you can receive $1 million from somebody if they’re so inclined.”

While there are limits on giving directly to state and federal candidates, rules at both levels allow for political party or unaffiliated groups to spend unlimited amounts on “in-kind” contributions, such as television ads and mailers in support of those candidates.

“The courts have said that when you exchange money directly with a candidate or party or PAC, that’s when there’s the potential for either real corruption or the appearance of it,” said Bob Biersack, senior fellow at the Center for Responsive Politics. “I’m giving you something and I expect something in return. That’s the legal premise on which contribution limits are permissible.”

Suarez case

Numerous employees at the Suarez Corporation — some of whom had never made a campaign donation before and appeared to be of modest means — gave maximum allowable $5,000 contributions to both U.S. Senate candidate and Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel and U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci last year, according to published reports.

Some of the employees’ spouses gave $5,000 to each man as well, bringing their family’s total contribution to $20,000.

Benjamin Suarez, the owner of the Canton-area direct marketing firm, is a significant Republican donor who also gave the maximum $5,000 to both candidates. Federal campaign finance law prohibits a person from contributing in someone else’s name to evade the limit, or from offering employee bonuses specifically intended to be contributed to a candidate.

According to the Toledo Blade, Suarez said his employees chose to contribute on their own and were not reimbursed by him or his company. No charges have been filed, but the FBI continues to investigate. Mandel has returned $105,000 in donations.

Working the limits

While the Suarez case weighs possible illegal attempts to skirt campaign contribution limits, there are several legal ways to get more money to candidates, although they are less direct.

From May to October 2010, five members of Dayton’s Mathile family, which built the Iams Co., donated $105,000 to the campaigns of Gov. John Kasich, Secretary of State Jon Husted and Attorney General Mike DeWine.

While that maxed out some of their ability to give more to the candidates themselves, family members also gave $50,000 to a Republican “state account” and $84,000 to the party’s “state candidate fund.” Those donations were within the separate limits for giving to those funds. The state candidate fund in turn spent more than $1 million on the campaigns of Kasich, Husted and DeWine in the final months of the 2010 election cycle.

As the Dayton Daily News reported earlier this month, donations to state senators and state representatives can also wind their way around simple contribution limits. In 2010 and 2011, Wayne Boich Sr. and Wayne Boich Jr., who are tied to a Columbus coal/energy company, each gave maximum donations to the Ohio House Republican Organizational Committee and the Republican Senate Campaign Committee, two PACs that aim to elect Republican state legislators.

The limits on giving to those two groups were $15,000 to each in 2010 and $17,315 to each in 2011. But limits for those groups are separate from limits on giving to individual legislators. So the Boiches, along with Wayne Sr.’s wife, Emeline, gave 28 more maximum contributions to 16 state reps and senators in that span, totalling another $320,853. Those state legislators, in turn, gave much of that money right to the Republican PACs that the Boiches could no longer give to directly.

Enforcement

County Boards of Election and the Ohio Secretary of State’s office audit campaign finance filings. Secretary of State spokesman Matt McClellan said most errors or omissions can be resolved with a call to the candidate or PAC.

When the problem is more complex, or the candidate ignores a request from the state, the case is forwarded to the Ohio Elections Commission. The OEC got about 800 campaign-finance related referrals in 2011, but most were about local candidates failing to meet filing deadlines.

Richter said the Suarez type of case, with the possibility of high-dollar fraud, is rare, adding that in 16 years at the OEC, he could only remember one or two similar allegations and no convictions. Biersack said convictions do happen in such cases nationally, pointing to Norman Hsu, who was convicted in 2009 of campaign finance fraud after fundraising for Hillary Clinton.

With millions of dollars in campaign contributions changing hands and Ohio in the spotlight as a crucial swing state, the potential for abuse is there. “When there are people who have strongly held beliefs and have resources, they’re going to try to bring them to bear on the process,” Biersack said.