Boston Globe: Attack ad aimed at boosting Gorbea draws fresh fire
Boston Globe: Attack ad aimed at boosting Gorbea draws fresh fire
PROVIDENCE — In the days before the Democratic primary for governor, the Latino Victory Fund launched an ad aimed at boosting Secretary of State Nellie M. Gorbea and blasting her opponents.
But as Tuesday’s primary approaches, the attack ad is drawing fresh attacks from Gorbea’s rivals while also receiving criticism from government watchdogs.
John M. Marion, executive director Common Cause Rhode Island, on Friday said his organization is considering filing a complaint with the state Board of Elections over the ad, which is titled “Who’s Worse?”
Common Cause pushed for a 2012 political spending transparency law in response to the US Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, and the law requires ads by outside groups to list the top five donors to those groups. But Marion noted that the Latino Victory Fund ad did not list its top donors.
“That is clearly violating the state’s disclosure law,” Marion said. “That is one of the issues we are considering filing a complaint about.” …
Marion noted the Latino Victory website says “Latino Victory is the only national Latino organization that is a 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), and Super PAC.”
Marion said Common Cause also is looking into whether a message placed on Gorbea’s campaign website violates the section of Rhode Island law that prohibits coordination between candidates and outside groups. If there was coordination, the money spent on the $136,000 ad would be considered a contribution and Rhode Island limits contributions to $1,000 per election cycle, he said. …
Marion said Rhode Island has not faced a situation quite like this in the past. “That is a tougher legal question,” he said. “That sort of behavior wasn’t happening when the law was written, so whether or not the law regulates that behavior is a question we have not answered in Rhode Island.”
The Board of Elections would not have a precedent to cite in ruling on whether there was improper coordination between Gorbea’s campaign and the Latino Victory Fund, Marion said. “But this may be the case that creates the precedent,” he said. “It certainly violated what we intended to prohibit with the 2012 law.”
Marion said Common Cause and the Campaign Legal Center drafted regulations in 2019 that would help guide enforcement in this area, but the Board of Elections has not yet adopted those regulations.
The secretary of state’s office has no role in the campaign finance system in Rhode Island, Marion said. “But they do play a big role with respect to transparency and open government,” he said.