Former Federal Election Commission Chair Ann Ravel filed a grievance Saturday against House Representative Evan Low's congressional campaign, alleging that Low did not report using a nonprofit organization's email server and phone list as an in-kind donation.
The FEC's grievance is the newest development within the contentious sixteenth Congressional District race between Low and former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo. The two Democrats have raised nearly $7 million to succeed U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, who announced late last yr that she wouldn’t seek re-election after greater than three a long time in Congress.
Ravel, who was appointed to the FEC by President Barack Obama in 2013, supports Liccardo but claims the grievance has nothing to do along with her support for the previous mayor.
“For me, it's more about how important it is for people in public service and in elections to obey the law,” she told The Mercury News.
In February, Ravel said, she became aware of an email from Low's campaign team that discussed his “pro-choice voting behavior.” At the underside of the e-mail was an unsubscribe link that directed the user to an internet site run by the nonprofit organization Stand With Asian Americans.
“This suggests that Mr. Low and his committee used a web platform hosted by the SWAA and that they apparently sent this email to the SWAA email list,” Ravel wrote within the grievance.
Low's campaign didn’t report any in-kind or non-monetary contributions to the nonprofit, nor did it report any payments to the organization for its email list or web server, the grievance said. The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 requires candidates to report contributions or “anything of value” they’ve received.
Low's campaign team denied the allegations within the grievance.
“Sam Liccardo is once again using his supporters to make false accusations against our campaign and distract from his own shady behavior,” Low campaign spokesman Lam Nguyen said in an announcement. “This is simply a case of a volunteer using the wrong hyperlink in his personal capacity. The email list was purchased from the county registrar and reported by the campaign.”
Low's opponent, Liccardo, is the topic of two FEC complaints filed earlier this yr that relate to the recount of votes in the first election after Low tied for second place with Santa Clara County Executive Joe Simitian. The recount was requested by Jonathan Padilla, a former staffer on Liccardo's mayoral campaign, resulting in allegations of collusion. In a July opinion piece, Ravel sharply criticized the 2 complaints, saying they were “filed without any evidence” and were a “blatant political ploy to mislead voters.”
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