Kara Ann Spencer, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez’s former campaign manager who was fired amid a massive campaign finance scandal, had a past felony conviction in Michigan for writing fraudulent checks and using another person’s debit or credit card, the Heartland Post has learned exclusively.
In addition, she had a long history of civil judgments, tax liens, and wage garnishments for nonpayment of rent and vehicle loan payments throughout the time she lived in Lansing, Michigan from the start of college until the early 2020s.
Online court records show a Kara Ann Spencer, 56, whose full name, birth date, and listed address match Spencer’s, was convicted in Ingham County District Court in 2003 on three felony charges of Uttering and Publishing as well as one count of Stealing or Retaining a Financial Transaction Device Without Consent.
Uttering and Publishing is a felony in Michigan that involves using a false, fraudulent, or altered financial document–usually a bad or forged check. Stealing or Retaining a Financial Transaction Device generally involves using another person’s credit or debit card.
Records indicate that bond was set at $25,000 and Spencer was ultimately convicted on all four charges and sentenced to probation.
While it is possible that this Kara Ann Spencer is not the same Kara Ann Spencer who served as Rodriguez’s campaign manager, it is highly unlikely that two people with the same full name also share the same birth date. An address listed for Spencer also matches one associated with Rodriguez’s former campaign manager in multiple public records databases.
Spencer attended college at Michigan State University in East Lansing and worked for years as a legislative aide and political operative in and around the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing.
Court records also indicate that she was sued multiple times for failing to pay rent as well as a vehicle loan from Champion Leasing, LLC. In that case, a default judgment was entered against her and her wages were ordered to garnished.
This long history of financial issues continued after Spencer moved to Madison, where she was sued for nonpayment of rent in Madison and ultimately faced eviction proceedings.
Spencer was fired Sunday after the Rodriguez campaign discovered that the January campaign finance report she prepared contained significant errors including multiple donations listed twice. This resulted in the Rodriguez campaign representing to both donors and the public that it had much more money than it actually did.
Rodriguez said in a press conference Monday that her campaign only had $200,000 in cash on hand after previously stating that it had upwards of $1.5 million. A campaign finance report filed Wednesday, however, showed that the campaign had just $35,000 in its coffers. On Thursday, the campaign filed an amended report showing an actual cash on hand balance of $640,000 but just a few hours later admitted that this number was incorred and filed a second amended report indicating that the originally reported $35,000 balance was actually correct.
