Today, a second campaign finance violation was filed against pro-recallers in Jeffco by an organization called Colorado Government Watch, which is alleging that there is illegal coordination between issue committees and the candidates they back. Here’s what Colorado Government Watch said about the complaint:
“Our latest action calls out campaign literature that was paid for and produced by this same funding conduit and then evidently distributed by school board candidates the recall committees support. Some of the candidates even have posted Facebook pictures of themselves and their campaign workers carrying the door-hanger literature and preparing to distribute it.
At least one prior court ruling on Colorado campaign-finance law indicates that those candidates’ use of the literature in their own campaigns rendered the literature a campaign donation that should have been reported by the candidates on their periodic campaign-finance filings. We checked, and no such donations have been reported so far.”
The committees in question include Jeffco United and Jeffco United for Action, and as part of the evidence, have included pictures of candidate Ron Mitchell carrying the issue committees’ literature.
The prior complaint asked the Secretary of State to compel Jeffco United and Support Jeffco Kids to disclose its donors since it was acting as a de facto campaign committee. According to Colorado Government Watch:
“As noted in our complaint filed with the Secretary of State’s Office Tuesday, two organizations, Jeffco Unitedand Support Jeffco Kids, have provided what so far amounts to the majority of the funding—almost $100,000—for the recall campaign. That effort included hiring professional petition circulators to place the recall on the ballot in the first place. If successful, the recall would replace a majority on the board. That is of course a big step voters are being asked to take, so it only makes sense that they should have a clearer picture who is actually asking them to take it. We are calling for these two groups to be compelled to file as issue committees under Colorado election law so that they will have to reveal the source or sources of their funding.”
It’s not unusual for the left to violate campaign finance rules, it’s just disheartening that the left is so very brazen about doing so.