AUGUSTA – A state watchdog panel Wednesday ordered an unsuccessful candidate for the Maine Senate from Lincoln to reimburse the Maine Clean Election fund more than $8,000 and pay a $5,000 fine.

The subject of the ruling by the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices was David Ireland, a Republican who ran for the Legislature with public funding while also serving as campaign manager for unsuccessful GOP congressional candidate Dick Campbell in Maine’s 2nd District.

The commission staff had challenged the propriety of some of Ireland’s campaign expenditures and raised questions about his management of public funding advanced to his campaign.

Ireland said he sought to separate the activities of his own campaign from those on behalf of Campbell. Campbell, who is running for Congress again, did not immediately return an Associated Press message left at his campaign headquarters seeking comment.

Ireland also told the panel that while he disagreed with some of the analysis of the commission staff about the propriety of campaign expenditures, he was anxious to close out the case.

“I’ve had this cloud looming,” Ireland said.

The commission’s reimbursement order was designed to resolve questions concerning expenditures on telephone service, travel, the purchase and use of computers and other equipment and temporary worker services.

Ireland had been given nearly $39,000 in public funds, with authorization for spending $17,658.

The commission action concludes the last major review of Clean Election campaigning during the 2000 election season, the first in which a public financing option was available to state candidates who pledged to do without most private donations.

As approved by Maine voters in a 1996 referendum, candidates financed through the Clean Election system can expect to receive three-quarters of the average amount spent by candidates for the same office in the previous two elections.

Candidates who forgo private contributions and accept public funding may get up to twice as much extra to keep pace with privately funded opponents.

Last month, the ethics commission ordered another unsuccessful Senate candidate, Democrat Loren Bailey of Falmouth, to reimburse the state for more than $4,000 and pay penalties of $1,423.

In last year’s legislative races, 134 candidates for the House and Senate ran with optional public funding after agreeing to forgo private donations.

Overall spending by the so-called Clean Elections participants was about $865,000, according to William Hain, the executive director of the ethics panel.

The public financing option will be available to gubernatorial candidates for the first time in 2002.

Maximum payments to an individual Clean Elections candidate for governor next year stand to reach nearly $1.2 million.

Ethics commission member Michael Carpenter said Wednesday he favored a stronger penalty for Ireland.

“There obviously are zealots in both parties,” Carpenter said. “They can be as zealous as they damn well please with their own money.”