Marion candidate Peter Johnson used money from dissolved company

MARION - To finance his campaign, Marion City Council candidate Peter Johnson used about $350 of his own money and about $1,200 of in-kind contributions from his company, though it is listed as being administratively dissolved on the Secretary of State's website.

While corporations are prohibited from making campaign contributions in Iowa, limited-liability companies can.

Johnson is president of IPM Inc. in Marion. His campaign finance disclosure report shows that $1,190.03 came from IPM LLC for in-kind contributions of office supplies, Facebook advertisements and other campaign merchandise.

Industrial Plastics and Machining LLC is the company that owns IPM Inc.'s equipment, and Johnson said he is the only employee of the limited-liability corporation.

Johnson said Friday that before he filed his campaign finance disclosure report, he had spoken with Tim Annee on Wednesday, who works with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board. That's when he said he learned that Industrial Plastics was listed as administratively dissolved with the Secretary of State's office in 2015 for failure to provide a biennial report.

After contacting the Secretary of State's office Friday, he found that the SOS form sent to him in 2015 was sent to the wrong address.

Johnson said he is working to resolve the situation.

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