Gerry Garcia has qualified for $375,000 in public financing to run his campaign for secretary of the state.

The State Election Enforcement Commission approved his application today, but only after investigating some last minute cash contributions that amounted to 40 percent of his $83,000 raised.

“We investigate whenever there is a significant group of cash contributions,” said Beth Rotman, director of the Citizens’ Election Program, adding the high percentage of donations being made in cash “is not unusual at all.”

The State Elections Enforcement Commission has former Federal Bureau of Investigations agent, Charles Urso, look at every public financing application and investigate when necessary, Rotman said.

“We make sure they are actually qualified before we release any funds,” she said.

Garcia faces Denise Merrill, who also has received public financing, in an Aug. 10 Democratic party primary. If successful in the primary, he will receive an additional $750,000 for a run against Republican Jerry Farrell Jr. in the November general election.

Jacqueline was CT Mirror’s Education and Housing Reporter, and an original member of the CT Mirror staff, joining shortly before our January 2010 launch. Her awards include the best-of-show Theodore A. Driscoll Investigative Award from the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists in 2019 for reporting on inadequate inmate health care, first-place for investigative reporting from the New England Newspaper and Press Association in 2020 for reporting on housing segregation, and two first-place awards from the National Education Writers Association in 2012. She was selected for a prestigious, year-long Propublica Local Reporting Network grant in 2019, exploring a range of affordable and low-income housing issues. Before joining CT Mirror, Jacqueline was a reporter, online editor and website developer for The Washington Post Co.’s Maryland newspaper chains. Jacqueline received an undergraduate degree in journalism from Bowling Green State University and a master’s in public policy from Trinity College.

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