At least two Republican political consultants have filed campaign finance complaints with the Liberal Political Action Commission, which runs radio ads to Oregonians asking Republican senators to get back to work.
The Political Action Committee, set up last fall by the chairman of the civil service union representing state employees, said four of the 10 Republican senators participating in a quorum strike that would prevent additional legislation from being passed in the Senate. Paid nearly $17,000 for targeted radio ads. It took more than three weeks, according to state campaign finance records and Federal Communications Commission records.
Ads for Hold Politicians Accountable ran from May 20 to May 22 in Bend, Eugene, Ragland, Lebanon, Tillamook and Warrenton, according to FCC data. They targeted Senator Tim Knopp of Bend, Senator Lynn Findley of Vale, Senator Cedric Hayden of Fall Creek, and Senator Suzanne Weber of Tillamook.
All four are on strike, with Knopp and Weber representing constituencies that Democrats are aiming to restore in 2024 or 2026.
The ad is about a minute long and explains how the Senate Republican strike is preventing Congress from passing bills on affordable housing, drought and wildfire relief, and overdose prevention. Finally, the announcer reads out the senator’s congressional phone number and asks listeners to tell them to get back to work.
like a radio advertisement Anti-Democrat emails and ads The shadow group fundraising that emerged during last year’s election and continues through Congress now appears to operate in a gray area of state campaign finance law. State Law “Communications supporting or opposing a candidate clearly identified by a political committee” must include the name of the political committee and its five major contributors. state election rules Based on that ad, the Political Action Committee requires those disclosures to include a numeric ID.
But none of the Republican senators targeted by this ad are candidates. Whether they will be allowed to run as candidates in future elections is an open question because they violated a law voter-approved last fall that prevented no more than 10 lawmakers from acting. be. Unexcused absences will increase when serving the next term.
Brian Iverson, head of the Senate Republican Party’s Political Action Committee and head of another committee that raises funds for senators who go on strike, said the numbers in an ad to be run in Bend on Wednesday. filed a complaint with the Office of the Secretary of State over a PAC that did not list the identity of Iverson is also married to House Minority Leader Vicky Breeze Iverson, Republican Prineville.
Jake Pelroy, a Eugene-based political consultant, filed a second complaint on Friday that includes audio from ads targeting Knopf and Hayden. The ad includes a disclosure that the Hold Politicians Accountable paid for the ad, but does not include the committee’s numeric ID.
PAC is governed by Service Workers International Trade Union 503. Public relations director Patti Urias told the Capital Chronicle in an email that complaints weren’t an issue because the ad clearly states that “holding politicians accountable” is paying for it. .
“And since these are not campaign spending, they do not violate campaign finance laws,” Urias added.
The commission, which was formed in October 2022 under the name “Meet Christine Drazan,” received nearly $950,000 from labor unions, the Democratic Governors Association and then-candidate for governor Tina Kotek. Later in the fall, it rebranded itself as “holding politicians to account” and spent nearly $550,000 attacking Republican gubernatorial nominee Drazan.
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