Republican gubernatorial candidate Marc Holtzman has picked a smart political strategy by seemingly tying his campaign to the fight against November’s budget measures, but he may run into legal trouble with how he’s financing that fight, political observers said Tuesday.
Donors close to Holtzman are funding anti- Referendums C and D television ads featuring him, prompting accusations that he is using this year’s campaign over the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights to collect big donations that would be illegal in a candidate race.
Holtzman’s father gave $100,000 to the campaign paying for the ads; his chief fundraiser gave $50,000. Critics question whether those donations violated provisions of Amendment 27, the campaign-finance reform amendment voters approved in 2003.
Holtzman’s campaign has strongly denied using the referendums – or their campaign committees – to skirt election laws.
But his opponent in next summer’s Republican primary, U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez, is considering filing a complaint with the secretary of state, spokesman John Marshall said Tuesday.
“If I had to choose a side, I would probably prefer to be on Holtzman’s side than an attack on Holtzman,” said Scott Gessler, a Denver lawyer who is expert in election law. “That said, the problem with campaign-finance law is there’s a lack of clarity. Someone sticks their neck out, someone takes a baseball bat and goes after him, and we all get to find out who wins.”
Lawyers often don’t get to choose their sides, of course. And after talking to The Denver Post on Tuesday, Gessler was hired by Beauprez.
Such a complaint would probably ask a judge to rule that the donations were either a “payment made to a third party for the benefit” of Holtzman’s gubernatorial campaign, or something “of value given, directly or indirectly,” to Holtzman’s campaign, Gessler said.
If that kind of complaint were to succeed, Holtzman and the donors to the issue committee could be ordered to pay a penalty twice the value of the donations, Gessler said.
State House Minority Leader Joe Stengel, chairman of the “If C Wins, You Lose” committee running the ads, says he has lined up other lawmakers to appear in future ads. He is not running a surrogate Holtzman campaign, he says.
Stengel said he supports Holtzman. In a Holtzman campaign fundraising letter this summer, Stengel urged donations to Holtzman from anyone who wanted to help defeat C and D or help Holtzman’s campaign for governor.
But Stengel’s issue committee is separate, he said, adding that upcoming ads will prove this. They feature former Republican state Sen. John Andrews; Rep. Kevin Lundberg, R- Berthoud; and Rep. David Schultheis, R-Colorado Springs, he said.
“I will put them on TV and on radio,” he said. “And these are Beauprez supporters.”
Last month was when Holtzman first tied his bid for governor to the defeat of Referendums C and D. The ballot issues ask voters to forgo $3.7 billion in TABOR refunds over the next five years to help the state balance the budget and would authorize $2.1 billion in loans to pay for public projects.
Opponents say the state does not need to keep the extra revenue. In an August letter to Beauprez, Holtzman called on his opponent to help him defeat the measures and said he was “choosing today to shift my focus away from my gubernatorial campaign in order to (defeat the measures).”
Still, after a recent debate on Referendums C and D in Grand Junction, Holtzman talked to a crowd about Western Slope water issues as staffers signed up supporters, took donations and handed out yard signs.
“I’m going to be working hard over the coming months to not only help defeat Referendums C and D but to build the kind of campaign that is worthy of your support,” Holtzman told the crowd.
Bob Loevy, a political science professor at Colorado College, said Holtzman is making an “astute” political move. It helps him raise his profile and, even if the referendums pass, it doesn’t hurt him with the Republican faithful who could put him on a primary ballot.
“That puts Beauprez under pressure. He’s got to deal with the reality that a viable opponent is going to be spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertising in connection with C and D that’s going to benefit him,” Loevy said.
CONTRIBUTIONS
Supporters
Below are some of the larger contributions made to the “Vote Yes on C&D” campaign:
Opponents
Below are some of the larger contributions made to the “Vote No; It’s Your Dough” and “If C Wins, You Lose” campaigns:
