A local Lafayette activist has filed a campaign finance complaint against 3rd Congressional District candidate Priscilla Gonzalez.
The 12-page complaint argues that Gonzalez raised enough donations to require her to file a campaign finance report with the Federal Election Commission, of which there is no record in the FEC’s public database.
The ethics board complaint was filed by Matthew Humphrey on Sunday, according to a copy provided by Humphrey. Humphrey is also currently part of a lawsuit against Gonzalez, accusing the candidate of defamation, and has brought a lawsuit against another candidate in the race, U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, alleging the congressman violated the First Amendment by blocking him from his official Facebook account.
Humphrey himself is not currently seeking political office, in the 3rd District or elsewhere. He is chair of the 3rd Congressional District Caucus of the Louisiana Democrats.
Gonzalez and the Louisiana Board of Ethics did not respond to a request for comment before publication. The ethics board usually doesn’t confirm or deny the existence of a complaint.
The complaint includes screenshots of donations the candidate allegedly received through payment apps like Venmo and Cash App, totaling more than $10,000 in individual donations solicited through TikTok and other sources.
Additionally, Gonzalez is alleged to have received and failed to properly report an in-kind donation of two pilot scholarships to distribute in a raffle to raise campaign funds, valued at $33,000, from a Maine nonprofit, the complaint states.
Candidates are required to file with the FEC if they receive more than $5,000.
The FEC’s public-facing database shows no entries for campaign funds raised or expenditures made by Gonzalez during the 2024 or 2026 election cycles.
“Campaign finance laws exist for a reason,” Humphrey tells The Current. “I find it highly concerning that this candidate has been campaigning for months and collecting donations through various channels but has yet to file any of the required reporting with the FEC.”
Humphrey also says he reached out to the Louisiana Attorney General’s office for guidance on next steps.
This is Gonzalez’s second time running for the 3rd Congressional District. In 2024, she was the most successful challenger to Higgins, receiving nearly 19% of the vote.
In 2023, Gonzalez entered as a surprise Democrat in the Lafayette mayor-president race but was disqualified on residency grounds. The underlying complaint came from Aimee Boyd Robison, a local activist who is also part of the ongoing defamation suit against Gonzalez, along with Humphrey.
Prior to coming to Lafayette to care for her stepfather, Gonzalez ran for mayor in Corpus Christi, Texas.
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