Reading a Report Step by Step

Here is one report, start to finish. Everything in it is invented: the county, the candidate, the donors and the businesses. The rules are real Idaho law. The arithmetic is simple, and every step is shown.

The report

Candidate: Lorraine Vasquez-Holt, running for county commissioner in the invented Pine Hollow County. A local office, so the contribution limit is $1,000 per contributor per election (Idaho Code 67-6610A). Report period: September 1 to 30, 2026, an election-year monthly report due by midnight October 10. Filed October 14.

Beginning cash on September 1: $3,215.

Itemized contributions

#	Contributor	Address (state)	Date	Amount
1	Dale Overby	Pine Hollow, ID	Sept 2	$250
2	Rosa Aguirre	Pine Hollow, ID	Sept 3	$100
3	Kent Larimer	Washington	Sept 8	$500
4	Priya Natarajan	Pine Hollow, ID	Sept 9	$75
5	Gus Whitcomb	14 Ridge Rd, Pine Hollow, ID	Sept 15	$1,000
6	Helen Whitcomb	14 Ridge Rd, Pine Hollow, ID	Sept 15	$1,000
7	Marcus Bell	Pine Hollow, ID	Sept 15	$1,000
8	Joan Tufts	Nevada	Sept 15	$1,000
9	Basin Paving Inc.	Pine Hollow, ID	Sept 16	$1,000
10	Lena Ostrander	Utah	Sept 22	$300
11	Wes Cardon	Pine Hollow, ID	Sept 28	$60 (three gifts of $20)

Also reported: unitemized contributions of $50 or less, $640. A loan from the candidate, September 1, $5,000. An in-kind contribution from the invented Copper Press, printing of door hangers, valued at $1,850.

Expenditures

Payee	Purpose	Amount
Sagebrush Sign Co.	Yard signs	$2,400
Pine Hollow Radio (invented)	Radio ads	$3,900
U.S. Postal Service	Postage	$1,120
Online ad platform	Online ads	$650
Expenditures under $25, combined	Misc.	$48
Copper Press (in-kind)	Printing, door hangers	$1,850

Reported ending cash on September 30: $7,022.

Step 1: add up the contributions

Itemized: 250 + 100 + 500 + 75 + 1,000 + 1,000 + 1,000 + 1,000 + 1,000 + 300 + 60 = $6,285.

Add the rest:

• Itemized $6,285 + unitemized $640 = $6,925 from people other than the candidate, in cash.
• Plus the candidate loan, $5,000: $11,925 in cash received.
• Plus the in-kind printing, $1,850: $13,775 total contributions reported.

Keep those three numbers separate. Each answers a different question. "How much did others give in cash?" $6,925. "How much cash came in?" $11,925. "What is the total on the report?" $13,775.

Check line 11 while you are here. Wes Cardon gave three $20 gifts. Each one is under $50, but his total is $60, so he must be itemized. The campaign did it right.

Step 2: reconcile the cash

Cash spent: 2,400 + 3,900 + 1,120 + 650 + 48 = $8,118. The $1,850 in-kind printing is also listed as an expenditure, as 67-6607 requires, but no money left the account for it. Total expenditures reported: 8,118 + 1,850 = $9,968.

Reconcile: beginning cash + cash in - cash out = ending cash.

3,215 + 11,925 - 8,118 = 7,022. It matches the reported $7,022.

If it had not matched, the usual explanations are an encumbrance (a bill incurred but not paid), a typo, a refund, or the in-kind gift being counted as cash on one side only. Ask the treasurer before saying that money is "missing."

Step 3: out-of-state money

Out-of-state itemized gifts: Washington $500 + Nevada $1,000 + Utah $300 = $1,800.

Denominator	Math	Share	Fair?
Itemized gifts only	1,800 / 6,285	28.6%	Overstates a little, because unitemized gifts have no addresses and are left out
All gifts from others	1,800 / 6,925	26.0%	Best for "share of money raised from others." Note that unitemized gifts' states are unknown.
All cash received, including candidate loan	1,800 / 11,925	15.1%	Understates, because the candidate's own loan is not fundraising

Pick the denominator that matches what you are claiming, and name it. "About 26 percent of the money Vasquez-Holt raised from others in September came from donors with out-of-state addresses." Then say what is also true: out-of-state contributions are legal in Idaho races, and an address is not always the whole story (a donor may own property in the county, or a relative may live there). Ask.

Step 4: clustered gifts

Rows 5 through 9 arrived on September 15 and 16: five gifts of $1,000, the maximum. Total $5,000, or 5,000 / 6,925 = 72 percent of the month's money from others.

Idaho reports do not list employers, so the form will not tell you why these five arrived together. Other public records can. In this invented case, the state's business entity records show Gus Whitcomb as president of Basin Paving Inc., Marcus Bell as its secretary and Joan Tufts as its registered agent. Helen Whitcomb shares Gus's address.

What this is: five legal-looking gifts from people and a company connected to one business, delivered together. That pattern is often called bundling, and it is legal when each person gives their own money. What it might also be, and what you cannot say without evidence: a company reimbursing people for gifts made in their names, which would be giving "through an agent, relative or other person" to hide the source, barred by Idaho Code 67-6614.

Next steps: check whether Basin Paving has county contracts or pending applications before the commission. Ask the campaign who organized the gifts. Ask each donor whether they used their own money. Note the answers, and the refusals.

Step 5: 48-hour notices

Each of the five $1,000 gifts triggered a 48-hour notice under 67-6607(3). That means five notices, due by about September 17 or 18. Search the portal's activity filter for the campaign and those dates. Present and on time? Fine, move on. Missing? That is a real compliance gap, and a fair question for the treasurer.

Step 6: the loan

The candidate lent $5,000. Under 67-6604, a candidate loan over $1,000 must be moved into the campaign account. The report treats it as a contribution, which is correct under Idaho's definition. Questions: what are the repayment terms, and will the loan be repaid from future donations? A loan repaid by donors after the election is, in effect, donors paying the candidate back. That is legal, and worth knowing when it happens.

Step 7: the in-kind gift

Copper Press gave printing valued at $1,850. Idaho counts non-cash contributions at fair market value toward the limit. The primary is over, so this counts toward the general election limit of $1,000.

1,850 - 1,000 = $850 over, on the face of the report.

Possible explanations to check before you say anything: the value is overstated and the real price was lower; part of the printing was paid for and the report is unclear; the owner and the company are being treated as separate contributors when 67-6610A may count them as one. Call the treasurer and Copper Press. If the campaign refunds $850 or amends the report, say so.

Step 8: the late filing

Due by midnight October 10. Filed October 14. Under 67-6625A, $50-a-day fees start 48 hours after the deadline (midnight October 12) and run until filing. About two days: 2 x $50 = about $100. Ask the Secretary of State's office what was actually assessed.

What you have, and what you do not

Finding	Status	Before saying it in public
Totals and cash reconcile	Confirmed from the report	None needed
26% of money from others came from out-of-state addresses	Confirmed arithmetic	Ask about donors' ties to the county
$5,000 cluster from people tied to Basin Paving	Confirmed from records	Ask campaign and donors; check county business with the company
In-kind gift appears $850 over the limit	Apparent	Ask the treasurer and vendor; look for an amendment
Report filed four days late	Confirmed	Ask the Secretary of State about fees assessed
Any straw donation	No evidence	Do not suggest it