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A federal elections complaint against state Assemblymember Evan Low is intensifying Silicon Valley’s hottest congressional race and putting attention on the political role of nonprofits.
A complaint filed over the weekend by former Federal Elections Commission Chair Ann Ravel alleges Low, who is running for Congressional District 16, used the email server and contact list of 501(c)(3) nonprofit Stand With Asian Americans to reach possible voters without disclosing it as an in-kind contribution — and despite federal laws barring nonprofits from directly contributing to campaigns.
Ravel said she became aware of the issue earlier this year through a staffer of Low’s opponent, former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo.
“My interest in this is not because I’m a supporter of Sam. Having been FEC chair — and as someone who speaks a lot about campaign finance issues — the lack of disclosure of what was clearly a contribution, for me, is a big issue,” Ravel told San José Spotlight. “Especially in a race like this.”
Ravel’s complaint alleges Low’s campaign sent an email vaunting his pro-choice voting record with an unsubscribe button that linked out to a website hosted by Stand With Asian Americans. Ravel argues this signals Low’s campaign is using the nonprofit’s email list. Thus, it is an in-kind contribution that needs be reported since it constitutes services offered for free or at less than the usual charge.
Lam Nguyen, a spokesperson for Low’s campaign, said the link was a mistake.
“Sam Liccardo is once again deploying his supporters to make false accusations against our campaign, and distract (from) his own shady conduct,” Nguyen told San José Spotlight in a statement. “This is simply a case of a volunteer working in their personal capacity using the wrong hyperlink. The email list was purchased from the county registrar and reported by the campaign.”
Robin Logsdon, Liccardo’s campaign manager, said the complaint raises crucial transparency questions.
“Evan Low will do anything to further his political career, whether it’s breaking the law or taking money from oil companies, PG&E or private prisons,” Logsdon told San José Spotlight. “It’s gotten so bad Barack Obama’s former FEC chair is now calling him out, four years after the FPPC opened a still ongoing investigation into him. Voters deserve better.”
Tax-exempt nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status are prohibited from directly or indirectly supporting candidates for elected office under IRS rules. This includes contributions to candidate committees, political party committees or a political action committee (PAC). The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 “Citizens United” decision opened the door for another type of nonprofit, 501(c)(4)s such as the Sierra Club and National Rifle Association, to play a bigger role in political campaigns.
In a statement, Stand With Asian Americans President Michelle Lee and COO Brian Pang denied giving Low their email subscriber information.
“It is against our core policies to share, sell or disclose any subscriber information to external entities, including political campaigns,” they told San José Spotlight. “(Stand With Asian Americans) has never provided email lists to the Low campaign. Any suggestion otherwise is categorically false and misrepresents our unwavering commitment to our community’s privacy and trust.”
The contest for Congressional District 16, an open race with Rep. Anna Eshoo retiring, has been historic — and rife with politically-targeted election complaints.
When Low ended up in a stunning tie with Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian in the March primary, two FEC complaints targeted Liccardo, the top vote getter in March, over suspected ties with people and PACs paying for and pushing for the recount that eventually knocked Simitian out and ensured Liccardo would only face one opponent in November.
Ravel criticized those complaints against Liccardo in July, calling them a “manipulation” of the voters by Low’s political allies.
This story was written by Brandon Pho for San Jose Spotlight. The original version of this article can be viewed here.
This complaint is a political action on behalf of Liccardo. No one has their own email server any more. All these list distributions are contracted out. Low’s campaign was a customer of the same service as the other group, but it would have had to PAY for using the service and provided its own email list.
@Long. Perhaps it was The Individual who works at the 501(c)(3) who made the error in judgement and ‘helped’ his own favored candidate? But, as we can see, if that is it rather than non-profit malfeasance, this Individual made a gave campaign mistake – which is a hefty fine legal mistake. (and if collusion, ah a criminal felony?) Of course “Stand With Asian Americans” the corporation might justly claim they had no part in it.
— Technical / it is going to be pretty darn easy to track the used list / and compare it to the ROV list. And Low’s campaign should be able to show a ‘trail of filtered/sorted records’ if it indeed did originate from the ROV.
— No problem at all – the ROV data is a ‘flat’ character delimited “plain text” file. Supper easy Programming 101.
Thanks be to former FEC members, and their diligence. She or anyone has “standing”. Im’t glad she stood!