Topeka ? Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ campaign committee sent out a fundraising e-mail that could run afoul of the state ethics law.

The Sebelius Committee sent to about 70,000 people the e-mail in which Sebelius reviewed the recent fight over plans for two coal-fired power plants.

At the end of the message, the reader was invited to click on a link to a Web site where a donation could be made to the committee.

State law bans legislators, statewide officials and candidates for those offices from seeking or accepting donations from lobbyists, corporations or political action committees while the Legislature is in session. The legislative session doesn’t officially end until May 29.

It is probable that lobbyists were among those who received the governor’s message.

Sebelius’ spokeswoman Nicole Corcoran said Tuesday that a staff member for the Sebelius Committee made a mistake.

“The letter approved by the governor was never intended to be a fundraiser but an update on a policy issue,” Corcoran said.

“Unfortunately, the staff made an error and added a fundraising solicitation,” she said. “As soon as the mistake was discovered, a follow-up message and an apology were sent to the same distribution list, and the committee self-reported the error to the Ethics Commission.”

Corcoran said one $50 contribution had come in shortly after the e-mail went out. The contribution – not from a lobbyist – will be returned, she said.

In April 2006, Sebelius was fined $1,500 over the same issue. The Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission found that Sebelius asked for contributions from registered lobbyists while the Legislature was in session.

At that time, Sebelius campaign officials said that there was never an intent to solicit funds from lobbyists. A vendor hired to work on the e-mail distribution list tried to remove the addresses of all lobbyists but failed, they said.

In the recent instance, Corcoran said, “Governor Sebelius was disappointed to learn of the committee staff’s mistake and will support whatever action the Ethics Commission deems appropriate to ensure accountability.”

Kansas Republican Party executive director Christian Morgan criticized Sebelius for both the e-mail and her position in opposition to the coal-fired plants in southwestern Kansas.

“We appreciate the apology,” he said. “But until the governor apologizes to the people of Kansas for her rejection of jobs and billions of investment dollars we will continue to protest her radical agenda.”

Sebelius rejected the coal-burning plants, citing environmental concerns about the project’s carbon dioxide emissions.