State election regulators are investigating San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond for his work related to defeating Measure G, the half-cent sales tax proposal now before local voters. In a letter released by the California Fair Political Practices Commission on Thursday, commission officials confirmed they are moving forward on a complaint filed against the North County supervisor last month. The investigation, which is not expected to conclude before the general election on Tuesday, is examining conflict-of-interest allegations against Desmond related to his work on the No on G political committee. Records show the commission also is investigating a $5,000 political contribution made by donor James Silverwood of Affirmed Housing months after Desmond cast a vote as supervisor to provide funding to the company. The sworn complaint was filed Sept. 24 by Barbara Campbell through attorney Richard R. Rios. “This letter is to notify you that the Enforcement Division of the Fair Political Practices Commission will investigate the allegation(s), under the jurisdiction of the Commission, of the sworn complaint you submitted in the above-referenced matter,” the commission said in a letter dated Oct. 16. “You will next receive notification from us upon final disposition of the case,” it added. Desmond did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But his spokesperson issued a statement late Thursday calling the investigation a “desperate political stunt aimed at diverting attention from the real issue.” “Voters don’t want to pay more taxes, they don’t trust SANDAG and a handful of insiders are set to make millions, while everyday voters are left to bear the burden,” Desmond spokesperson Miles Himmel said by email. Silverwood, who is not a target of the state investigation, did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent to a company spokesperson. Desmond, the former San Marcos mayor who was elected to the San Diego County Board of Supervisors in 2018, has been a longtime critic of the San Diego Association of Governments, or SANDAG. The regional planning agency would be responsible for spending the hundreds of millions of dollars in transportation-designated revenue that a countywide sales tax increase is expected to generate if voters pass Measure G. SANDAG is currently the subject of an unrelated federal investigation. Desmond has said that the agency has not shown it can properly manage public resources and that it misled voters who approved a tax measure decades ago aimed at funding public transportation projects. “I wouldn’t give another dime to SANDAG, because they don’t keep their promises,” Desmond told CBS 8 in an October interview. “They mismanage the money. They’ve got a history of mismanagement.” The FPPC is careful to say that opening an investigation does not mean the subjects of an investigation have done anything wrong. Rather, they evaluated the elements spelled out in the Campbell complaint and determined that a more formal review was warranted. Desmond, who was re-elected in 2022 and will be termed out as a county supervisor in two years, would likely face a monetary penalty if he were found to have violated campaign rules.