Rep. Nick LaLota says he's addressing Federal Election Commission concerns about donations

WASHINGTON — Federal election officials want Long Island Republican U.S. Rep. Nick LaLota’s campaign committee to explain why it has accepted more than $18,000 in potentially excessive or impermissible campaign contributions.

But those issues already are being resolved, he and his camp says, including by already refunding $7,000 to Stacey Siebel, the spouse of tech entrepreneur Thomas Siebel, an overage attributed to the campaign’s having two different spellings of her first name.

Other amounts received by LaLota under Federal Election Commission scrutiny as potentially exceeding federal limits include some of the nearly $9,000 in donations listed from Ukraine-born billionaire Leonard Blavatnik, a British-American businessman who is one of the world’s richest people. There are also lesser amounts under review from Andrea Wynn, the wife of the casino billionaire Steve Wynn, and Lewis Stahl, the CEO of NextGen Management LLC.

LaLota said he still maintains a 19-to-1 cash lead after the refund to Siebel. That’s a reference to the huge fundraising edge he commands with more than $3.3 million in the bank reported in latest federal filings through June 30, compared to $172,000 reported by his Democrat challenger, Chris Gallant of Amity Harbor. Gallant’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.

"Of the 28,996 donors who have contributed to our 2026 campaign, we just became aware of one contribution that because of a spelling error was over the limit and this week our campaign will refund them the difference," LaLota said in a statement, when asked about the FEC inquiry.

The FEC does not conclude that the questioned donations that date from 2025 are, in fact, excessive or prohibited, in a letter dated Tuesday to "LaLota for Congress" treasurer Thomas Datwyler.

But it warns that a preliminary review of a LaLota committee financial filing "discloses one or more contributions that appear to exceed the limits." The letter gives LaLota’s campaign committee until Oct. 20 to respond, and says failure to answer "could result in an audit or enforcement action."

The current contribution limit from an individual to a federal candidate is $3,500 per election. But a candidate can resolve issues of donors exceeding allowable amounts by either refunding money or redesignating some of the amounts to a different election — such as switching it as going toward a primary election versus the general.

LaLota’s camp says it’s addressing the total of $18,648 now being questioned by the FEC — and was doing so even before receiving the letter.

Along with the $7,000 refund to Siebel, it says it has already "reattributed $5,428” listed as received from Leonard Blavatnik to having instead come from Blavatnik’s spouse, and also refunded $110.11 to Andrea Wynn.