Another Bad Week For Carey Coleman: Coleman Hit With DoJ Complaint After Allegedly Hiding Personal Finances From Primary Voters

Another Bad Week For Carey Coleman: Coleman Hit With DoJ Complaint After Allegedly Hiding Personal Finances From Primary Voters

May 22, 2026

COLUMBUS, OH - Another week, another problem for Republican candidate for Congress Carey Coleman. While last week Coleman was kicking off the general election by telling Ohio teachers to "go to hell," this week Coleman was once again making news, facing calls for a Justice Department investigation after missing the deadline to file a personal financial disclosure. Filing personal financial disclosures has been a requirement for federal candidates for decades, and yet, Coleman failed to file his by the deadline after he loaned his own campaign more than $50,000.

"Carey Coleman's campaign has had a pretty horrible start to the general election - telling tens of thousands of Ohio teachers to 'go to hell,' and then facing calls for an ethics investigation over allegations that he broke federal law to keep Ohio voters in the dark about his personal finances," said Ohio Democratic Party Communications Director Marisa Nahem. "Wonder what next week will bring for Carey Coleman."

Read more from Cleveland.com on how Coleman's failure to file a personal financial disclosure on time led to an ethics complaint:

• The Summit County Democratic Party has asked the Justice Department to investigate Republican congressional nominee Carey Coleman for failing to file a personal financial disclosure required of federal candidates under a decades-old ethics law.

• A statement from the Summit County Democratic Party noted that Federal Election Commission records indicate Coleman loaned his own campaign more than $50,000. It accused him of breaking "federal law to hide where that money came from until after the votes were counted."

• In the letter, Derig said the Ethics in Government Act was designed to "preserve and promote the integrity of public officials and institutions" and argued that Coleman's apparent failure to file "undermines these important objectives and deprives voters of the opportunity to accurately assess his potential conflicts of interest and fitness for elected office."

• Under federal law, candidates are required to file a personal financial disclosure once they raise or spend more than $5,000 for a House election. The form is due within 30 days of the candidate reaching that threshold, by May 15 of the calendar year in which they become a candidate, or no later than 30 days before the election - whichever comes last.

• Derig's letter cites Coleman's April 15 FEC filing, which indicates he had received contributions exceeding $5,000 as of January 26, 2026. Under that timeline, Coleman was required to file a personal financial disclosure no later than April 5, 2026 - 30 days before the May primary.

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