From The Jackson Sun:

Rulings needed on Fincher finances

The Federal Election Commission and the U.S Attorney's Office should swiftly investigate complaints about the financial disclosures of congressional candidate Stephen Fincher and a $250,000 loan received by Fincher's campaign.

While we appreciate the reluctance of government agencies to get involved in campaign issues, these matters need to be resolved before Election Day. The initial complaints were filed more than a month before the election and deserved immediate attention.

A Covington lawyer filed a complaint in August about the disclosure forms, suggesting they did not fully represent Fincher's financial status. Fincher's forms only list income from his farm. They do not list any other assets, such as property, bank accounts or mutual funds. Likewise, they do not list any liabilities, such as loans.

Fincher has said he filled out the forms in good faith. "Nothing has been done that is unethical or intentionally inaccurate," he said in an interview last month. Read those comments carefully. Fincher leaves the door wide open to the forms being wrong.

After he spoke, his handlers quickly added that any mistakes on the forms would be corrected after the campaign. That's not soon enough. If Fincher made a mistake, he should admit it now. The people he seeks to represent deserve no less.

Fincher's campaign received the $250,000 loan from Gates Banking and Trust. Bank Chairman Warren Nunn has declined to say what kind of collateral was posted for the loan. A Fincher spokesman has said the loan was made based on Fincher's past relationship with the bank. His father is on the bank's board of directors.

A lawyer representing Roy Herron, Fincher's opponent, has filed two complaints with the FEC about the loan, the first in late September. He said the Fincher campaign did not properly report the loan in that it failed to report the terms and failed to file a copy of the loan agreement. The complaint noted that collateral is required for such loans.

Failure by the FEC and the U.S. Attorney's Office to immediately investigate and report their findings on these matters is a disservice to the people of the 8th District. It is also a disservice to Fincher and Herron. Fincher deserves to have his name cleared before the election if he has, indeed, done nothing wrong. Herron deserves to know if his complaints are substantiated.

The implications are significant. Residents should not be left to find out after Election Day that they made a big mistake - either by electing someone who staked his campaign on false complaints about financial matters or by electing someone who did not follow the rules.

The people of the 8th District deserve answers from the FEC and the U.S. Attorney's Office now.