AUGUSTA – State Ethics Commission members heard David Hughes apologize to them and to all Mainers for not filing his campaign report on time, and ignoring repeated requests to explain why he had not compiled with the law. He faces up to a $1,500 fine for the late filing.

“I am sorry I did not file when I should have,” he said Friday. “I believe people should be held accountable, and I should have filed.”

Hughes, a Republican from Lewiston, was defeated by Democrat Michael Carey for the District 72 seat that former state Rep. William Walcott vacated. Walcott is facing nine criminal charges, including two counts of theft by deception, two counts of violating the Clean Election Act, two counts of misusing public property as well as three counts of making false reports. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

On Thursday, Hughes sent the commission copies of the bank account records listing how he spent the nearly $4,300 in state funds he received for his campaign under the Clean Election Act, met with staff and answered questions about his report and records.

“It appears that it is all substantively in order and was appropriate expenditures,” commission Executive Director Jonathan Wayne told the panel.

But panel members directed Wayne to fully audit Hughes’ expenditures because of the lateness of the filing, which was due Dec. 18.

“I will give them whatever they ask for,” Hughes said. “Everything was spent properly, and I just have to pull all the records together they ask for.”

Because Hughes filed 37 days late, the formula in the law for determining fines sets his amount at just under $1,500. But, panel chairman Michael Friedman told Hughes he may appeal to the panel at a later meeting to set a lower fine or seek no fine in the matter.

“That’s when we will hear and discuss mitigating circumstances,” he said.

Hughes told the panel Friday he was “greatly affected” by the death of a “young friend” and still was recovering from that shock.

And earlier this week, had told the Sun-Journal that he was very close to 7-year-old Riley Davis, who was killed on Dec. 16 when he and two other children were using a flammable liquid to start a fire in a wood stove and the fire blew back on him. He said the young boy’s unexpected death was a shock that distracted him from everything in his life. A stay-at-home dad with two young children, he said he also had other issues that dominated his attention.

“I have to go home this weekend and open a lot of unopened bills on my desk and deal with them,” he said in an interview after the meeting. “I simply have not been doing things I should have been doing.”

Hughes expects he will pay a fine, but he does plan to appear before the panel to explain why he was late in complying with the law.

“Do I expect there will be a substantial penalty? Yes, I do,” he said. “And I expect I will pay that without complaint.” Another candidate from the November election’s five special House contests is facing a probe by the commission. Democrat Katherine Smith of Sebago lost to Republican Ralph Sarty of Denmark, but is facing an investigation because she failed to return unused campaign funds.

Wayne told the panel that after being contacted by commission staff, Smith sent a check for the unused funds, but the check bounced. Panel members told Wayne to audit all of Smith’s expenditures of funds to make sure they were appropriate, and told him to seek payment of the unused funds.

The state’s Clean Election Act gives taxpayer money to candidates running for governor and the Legislature, as long as those candidates qualify by collecting very limited private contributions, called seed money, at the beginning of their campaigns.

After an election, candidates who received state funds must file paperwork showing how they spent that money on their campaigns. They also must return any unused funds to the state.

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