For the second time in four months, Republican congressional candidate Rick O’Donnell is under fire for what opponents allege are illegal fundraisers.
Democrat Ed Perlmutter on Wednesday accused O’Donnell’s campaign of violating federal elections laws by having a Wheat Ridge insurance firm lobby policyholders on his behalf.
The charge came the same day O’Donnell stood outside Perlmutter’s law firm, questioning his ties to the energy industry.
The dueling charges marked the first major clash between the two since Perlmutter won the Democratic nomination for the 7th Congressional District on Aug. 8, offering a preview of how intense the race is expected to be.
O’Donnell challenged Perlmutter to release the list of clients he worked for while serving eight years in the legislature.
Perlmutter’s campaign rebuffed the request, saying instead that it will file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission over an event where the Bushell Insurance Agency Inc., an affiliate of State Farm Insurance, invited policyholders to meet O’Donnell.
Federal election laws prohibit corporations from using company resources to encourage customers to vote for a candidate.
The invitations to Arthur Bushell’s home Tuesday night were addressed “Dear Policyholder” and carried the logos of his firm and State Farm. “The whole purpose of this is to help inform of the issues and not persuade you,” the invitation said.
K.C. Jones, O’Donnell’s campaign manager, denied any laws were broken. She said no campaign money was raised at the event and stressed that Bushell planned to reimburse his firm for the use of the postcards.
Joy Pickar, spokeswoman for State Farm, said the use of State Farm’s logo was “ill-advised” but an “innocent error.”
A policyholder who attended the event, Alma Mandarich, described it as partisan and said she canceled her policy. Mandarich, a Democrat who was provided to the media by the Perlmutter camp, said Bushell told those attending how to make campaign contributions.
“O’Donnell was very partisan at this event and asked for campaign contributions and collected money, and it’s a complete violation of the law,” said Scott Chase, spokesman for Perlmutter’s campaign.
This is the second time Democrats have alleged legal violations involving O’Donnell events. In April, Democrats called for U.S. Special Counsel Scott Bloch to investigate whether the head of the Environmental Protection Agency improperly solicited political contributions for O’Donnell.
Separately, O’Donnell on Wednesday accused Perlmutter of “kowtowing” to oil and gas interests as a legislator. He pointed to Senate Bill 141, which Perlmutter sponsored in 2002, and House Bill 1065, which Perlmutter supported in 2000.
The Senate bill would have allowed companies that retrieve gas and oil from land owned by others to charge them production costs. The House bill increased the amount of oil that can be produced and still qualify for tax exemptions. In 2003, after leaving the legislature, Perlmutter created Elk Petroleum.
“We don’t know if he was also working with clients who said, ‘Hey, thank you for carrying our bill – why don’t you come into business with us,”‘ O’Donnell said.
Staff writer Christopher N. Osher can be reached at 303-820-1747 or cosher@denverpost.com.
