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Weld District Attorney Ken Buck has announced he will run for a third term in the office, and he used his office resources — official letterhead, email account and his office’s spokeswoman — to send out the statement.
Some in government said Monday the announcement was clearly a violation of the state Fair Campaign Practices Act, though others, and Buck, himself, disagree.
Buck, through his office public information officer Meghan Swella, sent out an email Monday discussing his announcement last week at an Evans restaurant that he will run for a third term.
“Weld County is my home and you are my neighbors. I have a personal investment in justice, safety and the quality of life here,” Buck said in the news release. “My team will continue to aggressively prosecute crime and bring maximum justice, educate the community about safety and prevention and be innovative in ways to save the taxpayers’ money.”
It’s unclear how much Buck’s announcement cost to produce and send.
“It wouldn’t even be a dollar,” Buck said of the cost of such an email. “It’s just ridiculous to say that the county has contributed anything to my campaign, or used county money to promote my campaign. It was not a campaign piece.”
State law states: “No agency, department, board, division, bureau, commission, or council of the state or any political subdivision of the state shall make any contribution in campaigns involving the nomination, retention, or election of any person to any public office, nor shall any such entity make any donation to any other person for the purpose of making an independent expenditure, nor shall any such entity expend any moneys from any source, or make any contributions, to urge electors …”
State law states the value of any campaign “contribution” — which under the law can be defined as staffers’ time — cannot exceed $50, said Rich Coolidge of the Colorado Secretary of State’s office.
Luis Toro of Colorado Ethics Watch, who read the email from Buck’s office, said he believes it’s a clear violation of state law.
“I’d be curious to know why they think this is OK,” Toro said. “I don’t see it. … We talk about the advantages of incumbency, and one of them is not getting to use the resources of your office to promote your re-election.”
Buck said the email — which he believes was only sent to The Tribune — wasn’t promoting his campaign, it wasn’t asking for donations, assistance or anything to promote his bid, other than giving information.
“This is simply an announcement that I’m running for re-election, and it comes from the District Attorney’s office because I am the DA and I’m running for DA,” he said.
The email, with the Weld District Attorney seal, was sent via his office, but it doesn’t seem to rise to the level of violating law, said Mario Nicolais, an election law attorney in Denver.
“Since it is the incumbent simply announcing what he intends to do about that seat, I don’t think it’s a violation,” Nicolais said. “It is an incumbent talking about his current position and the continuity of the office. It would be different if he was the Weld DA announcing a run for county commissioner, or if he’d used the DA office to announce running for the U.S. Senate.
“Maybe next time they might want to be more careful … but I don’t think it rises to the level of a violation,” said Nicolais, noting that he represents Republicans. Buck is a Republican.
Toro, whose organization is chiefly from a Democratic persuasion, disagreed: “For us the bottom line is, the guiding principal is you don’t use taxpayer money for your campaign.” Taxpayer money includes that paid to staffers’ time, for example, to write such news releases, he said.
Two years ago, Weld County Sheriff John Cooke announced his re-election bid, as well as those of Weld County Assessor Chris Woodruff and Clerk and Recorder Steve Moreno, through a county email, but there was little backlash. Moreno apparently sent a separate email from a county account.
Moreno, in response to Tribune questions at the time about the email, said he was embarrassed by the incident.
Cooke on Monday said he, too, didn’t think there was anything wrong with sending a quick announcement of the incumbent’s intention to seek re-election.
“I’m not sure I still see it as a violation,” Cooke said. “I guess it’s in the interpretation. By saying you’re going to announce for re-election, is that a campaign or is that a service?
“I can’t say two years later I’m losing sleep over it, but looking back, if I had to do it over, I probably would have done it from a personal computer.”
Some in government said Monday the announcement was clearly a violation of the state Fair Campaign Practices Act, though others, and Buck, himself, disagree.
Buck, through his office public information officer Meghan Swella, sent out an email Monday discussing his announcement last week at an Evans restaurant that he will run for a third term.
“Weld County is my home and you are my neighbors. I have a personal investment in justice, safety and the quality of life here,” Buck said in the news release. “My team will continue to aggressively prosecute crime and bring maximum justice, educate the community about safety and prevention and be innovative in ways to save the taxpayers’ money.”
It’s unclear how much Buck’s announcement cost to produce and send.
“It wouldn’t even be a dollar,” Buck said of the cost of such an email. “It’s just ridiculous to say that the county has contributed anything to my campaign, or used county money to promote my campaign. It was not a campaign piece.”
State law states: “No agency, department, board, division, bureau, commission, or council of the state or any political subdivision of the state shall make any contribution in campaigns involving the nomination, retention, or election of any person to any public office, nor shall any such entity make any donation to any other person for the purpose of making an independent expenditure, nor shall any such entity expend any moneys from any source, or make any contributions, to urge electors …”
State law states the value of any campaign “contribution” — which under the law can be defined as staffers’ time — cannot exceed $50, said Rich Coolidge of the Colorado Secretary of State’s office.
Luis Toro of Colorado Ethics Watch, who read the email from Buck’s office, said he believes it’s a clear violation of state law.
“I’d be curious to know why they think this is OK,” Toro said. “I don’t see it. … We talk about the advantages of incumbency, and one of them is not getting to use the resources of your office to promote your re-election.”
Buck said the email — which he believes was only sent to The Tribune — wasn’t promoting his campaign, it wasn’t asking for donations, assistance or anything to promote his bid, other than giving information.
“This is simply an announcement that I’m running for re-election, and it comes from the District Attorney’s office because I am the DA and I’m running for DA,” he said.
The email, with the Weld District Attorney seal, was sent via his office, but it doesn’t seem to rise to the level of violating law, said Mario Nicolais, an election law attorney in Denver.
“Since it is the incumbent simply announcing what he intends to do about that seat, I don’t think it’s a violation,” Nicolais said. “It is an incumbent talking about his current position and the continuity of the office. It would be different if he was the Weld DA announcing a run for county commissioner, or if he’d used the DA office to announce running for the U.S. Senate.
“Maybe next time they might want to be more careful … but I don’t think it rises to the level of a violation,” said Nicolais, noting that he represents Republicans. Buck is a Republican.
Toro, whose organization is chiefly from a Democratic persuasion, disagreed: “For us the bottom line is, the guiding principal is you don’t use taxpayer money for your campaign.” Taxpayer money includes that paid to staffers’ time, for example, to write such news releases, he said.
Two years ago, Weld County Sheriff John Cooke announced his re-election bid, as well as those of Weld County Assessor Chris Woodruff and Clerk and Recorder Steve Moreno, through a county email, but there was little backlash. Moreno apparently sent a separate email from a county account.
Moreno, in response to Tribune questions at the time about the email, said he was embarrassed by the incident.
Cooke on Monday said he, too, didn’t think there was anything wrong with sending a quick announcement of the incumbent’s intention to seek re-election.
“I’m not sure I still see it as a violation,” Cooke said. “I guess it’s in the interpretation. By saying you’re going to announce for re-election, is that a campaign or is that a service?
“I can’t say two years later I’m losing sleep over it, but looking back, if I had to do it over, I probably would have done it from a personal computer.”
