The Dirtiest Campaign

Ironically, the dirtiest campaign so far this election season may be the one run by law enforcement officers.  Today’s complaint to the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) about the campaign to elect Kevin Jensen Sheriff raises serious questions about legality of Jensen’s campaign activities and the campaign activities of his two sponsors, the Deputy Sheriffs Association (DSA) and the Correctional Peace Officers Association (CPOA).  The complaint, which is attached below, alleges that Jensen , the DSA and the CPOA blatantly violated the legal limit on political contributions.

As Jensen’s website points out, “Donors, including individuals, businesses, unions, corporations and PAC’s may contribute a maximum of $1,000 per election.” It is illegal for any individual or group to donate more than that.  Groups are able to spend more than $1000 by forming “independent expenditure” committees, but those committees and the candidates they support must really be independent of each other.  The DSA and CPOA formed a committee called Public Safety Workers (PSW), but based on the FPPC complaint filed today, it is not at all independent of the Jensen campaign.

First of all, Jensen basically has no campaign independent of his DSA and CPOA patrons.  To date, he has raised $9,248, less than a tenth of the amount he would need for even a single mailer.  The sheriffs and correctional officers, on the other hand, have put $235,000 in their “independent expenditure” committee.  According to the FPPC complaint, Jensen told the Republican Party that he expects the DSA and CPOA to spend $750,000 on his election.

Apparently, Jensen went so far as to tell several people that he won’t have to do any negative campaigning against incumbent Sheriff Laurie Smith because the DSA and CPOA will do the “dirty hit pieces” for him.  If true, Jensen and his patrons are going to be in trouble with the FPPC because this is exactly the sort of tactic the law prohibits.

Expenditure limits are intended to prevent money from distorting the democratic process.  That’s why the DSA and CPOA actions are so wrong – what they lack in popular support they are trying to make up for with illegal campaign donations.  At least we know what to expect from the Jensen campaign.  It looks dirty now, and there’s probably more dirt on the way.

Click Here to Read the FPPC Complaint

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