{"id":39847,"date":"2022-06-21T10:36:38","date_gmt":"2022-06-21T16:36:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/the-most-weve-ever-seen-election-messaging-drives-complaints-ethical-questions\/"},"modified":"2022-06-21T16:36:38","modified_gmt":"2022-06-21T16:36:38","slug":"the-most-weve-ever-seen-election-messaging-drives-complaints-ethical-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/the-most-weve-ever-seen-election-messaging-drives-complaints-ethical-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The most we\u2019ve ever seen\u2019: Election messaging drives complaints, ethical questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"This
This mailer about Republican U.S. Senate candidates went to GOP and unaffiliated voters, but it isn't clear who is behind it.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Mailers, TV ads and other campaign missives are flying in Colorado as the June 28 primary nears, eliciting a wave of campaign finance complaints and raising ethical questions about some of the political maneuvering.<\/p>\n

Democrats are behind some of the ads promoting more conservative Republican candidates for U.S. Senate, Colorado governor and the 8th Congressional District \u2013 believing those candidates will be easier to beat in the general election.<\/p>\n

But the strategy has been criticized by some Democrats, who warn that it could backfire by raising the profile of election deniers and potentially adding fuel to their movement.<\/p>\n

\u201cDemocracy is kind of hanging in the balance,\u201d said Dan Grossman, a lawyer, registered Democrat and a former state lawmaker. \u201cI don\u2019t think attempts by Democrats to gain political partisan advantage by bolstering the campaigns of these folks who have no respect for the values of democracy \u2013 it\u2019s perilous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Various Democratic groups are airing ads and sending mailers that describe three candidates \u2013 state Rep. Ron Hanks in the U.S. Senate contest, Weld County Commissioner Lori Saine in the 8th Congressional District race and former Parker Mayor Greg Lopez in the gubernatorial race \u2013 as \u201ctoo conservative.\u201d All three are steadfast in their denial of the 2020 presidential election results.<\/p>\n

Mario Nicolais, a campaign finance attorney who also writes opinion columns for The Colorado Sun, called the ads an example of \u201cReverse Psychology 101,\u201d and argued they would push undecided Republicans to support those candidates.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s nothing new about political parties spending on advertising to affect the other side\u2019s slate of candidates. But this year\u2019s spending by Democrats comes earlier and is more extensive than in the past, Nicolais said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is by far the most we\u2019ve ever seen in Colorado,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

One election-denier candidate who hasn\u2019t been promoted in Democratic-backed ads is indicted Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, the Republican building her campaign for secretary of state on a false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. Promoting Peters appears to be a step too far for Democrats, Nicolais said.<\/p>\n

Grossman and Nicolais said that even a remote risk of an election denier defeating a Democrat in the fall is unacceptable.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs much as I disagree with traditional conservative Republicans, I think for the good of the country we need to make sure that they restore their own party,\u201d Grossman said.<\/p>\n

Missives draw complaints<\/div>\n

Last week, U.S. Senate candidate Joe O\u2019Dea filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission over several mailers that contrast him with Hanks, his GOP primary opponent. The mailers falsely claim the Colorado Republican Party has endorsed Hanks. The state party is prohibited from endorsing primary candidates by its bylaws.<\/p>\n

\u201cContrary to what the mailers state: The Colorado GOP has not endorsed any candidates in the primary nor are we the ones sending these mailers to voters,\u201d Republican Party Executive Director Joe Jackson said in a written statement.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Dea is suing the Iowa printing company behind the mailers for defamation.<\/p>\n

The mailers, which don\u2019t suggest people who receive them should vote for or against either candidate, contain no disclosure of who sent them. But FEC regulations don\u2019t require electioneering reports for mailers or digital ads.<\/p>\n

The National Republican Senatorial Committee, which supports GOP U.S. Senate candidates, said Monday that it, too, plans to file an FEC complaint over the mailers.<\/p>\n

Liberal nonprofit ProgressNow Colorado faces a campaign finance complaint with the Colorado Secretary of State\u2019s Office in connection with a mailer it sent contrasting Lopez with Democratic Gov. Jared Polis on abortion.<\/p>\n

The complaint, filed by an Englewood woman, says the mailer doesn\u2019t include the name of the registered agent for the group, Colorado Voter Guides, which was recently created by ProgressNow Colorado. And the complaint alleges the group failed to report the cost of the mailer as an electioneering communication, as required by state law.<\/p>\n

After the complaint was filed \u2013 and several days after the state\u2019s 48-hour deadline \u2013 Colorado Voter Guides reported spending more than $116,000 on the mailer. The group has since reported spending another $233,000 on mailers for a total of $349,000.<\/p>\n

The complaints aren\u2019t limited to Republicans and Democrats duking it out. There are intraparty controversies too.<\/p>\n

The Public Trust Institute, a conservative nonprofit, filed a complaint against state-level super PAC Citizens for Election Integrity, which is supporting Peters, for failing to report campaign donations in its Monday filing and also failing to report independent spending within 48 hours as required by law. Citizens for Election Integrity filed reports Thursday, a few days after the deadline, showing it had spent more than $99,000.<\/p>\n

The group is airing TV and digital ads and has produced a website opposing Republican Pam Anderson\u2019s bid for secretary of state. While it hasn\u2019t disclosed its donors, the people who registered Citizens for Election Integrity have worked for other election-denying Republican candidates in the past. And Peters tweeted the group\u2019s TV ad approvingly soon after it came out.<\/p>\n

In El Paso County\u2019s 5th Congressional District, state Rep. Dave Williams is asking for a criminal investigation of TV ads from incumbent U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn\u2019s campaign. Williams says the ads make false statements about him, which would be a violation of state law. But it\u2019s unclear if that state law has ever been enforced.<\/p>\n

Nicolais, an unaffiliated voter who ran unsuccessfully for state Senate in 2014, filed a complaint against mailers in his contest, which he said were nastier than anything he\u2019s seen yet in 2022. Action on complaints won\u2019t be speedy, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll be well after the election,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Other messages are also unidentified<\/div>\n

Last week, a group called TopLineVote.com sent a mailer to El Paso County voters endorsing county and statewide candidates, all of whom deny the results of the 2020 presidential election and oppose COVID-19 prevention measures.<\/p>\n

TopLineVote.com is not registered with the Colorado Secretary of State\u2019s Office as a political committee or as a business, nor is the website hosting it, getknown.net, nor is Intergalactic Advertising, the business advertised on the main site.<\/p>\n

The website says \u201cThis website was created by patriots. It is not approved by any candidate or candidate\u2019s committee. WE DO NOT ACCEPT DONATIONS.\u201d The Sun sent a message to the email address listed for the advertising firm (the address is a UPS Store in Colorado Springs) and were told the group didn\u2019t spend more than $1,000 on the messaging. The person responding wouldn\u2019t reveal their name. That spending would indicate the mailers went out to fewer than 1,000 people.<\/p>\n

A group called El Paso County Republican Strategy Forum is running the same ad on Facebook, spending less than $100 thus far.<\/p>\n

Several anonymous mailers went to unaffiliated and Republican voters in the 8th Congressional District contrasting Saine, one of four GOP primary candidates, with Democratic nominee state Rep. Yadira Caraveo. Those mailers appear to come from a Democratic group based on union insignia and mailing permits. But they don\u2019t endorse either candidate, thus haven\u2019t been disclosed to the FEC.<\/p>\n

In the 7th Congressional District, Republican candidate Laurel Imer posted a video last week questioning primary opponent Erik Aadland\u2019s relationship with a nonprofit and super PAC that are spending to support Aadland. All of super PAC For Colorado\u2019s Future spending on mailers and texts supporting Aadland and opposing the third candidate in the contest, economist Tim Reichert, is going to Telephone Town Hall Meeting, a Golden company with the same address as the super PAC. For Colorado\u2019s Future won\u2019t report its donors until mid-July, after the primary is settled.<\/p>\n

Telephone Townhall Meeting was the Aadland campaign\u2019s top vendor between April 1 and June 8, earning $16,000 for printing, texting and meetings.<\/p>\n

Read more at The Colorado Sun<\/div>\n

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to covering Colorado issues. To learn more, go to coloradosun.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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