On the left is Evan Law, candidate for the 16th Congressional District, and on the right is Sam Lickard.
As a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission under President Barack Obama, I saw how bad actors can manipulate our election regulatory process for political gain.
One example of this manipulation was when a putative ally of Evan Law filed two complaints full of fact-free accusations against Sam Liccardo, Law’s opponent in the 16th Congressional District.
The drama began when Roe fought to block a recount of votes after coming in second to Joe Simitian in the primary. In April, Roe’s campaign accused Lickard’s supporters of fraud, alleging that they had funded the recount, and that the donors must have illegally conspired with Lickard.
Their accusations are baseless. The recount was conducted legally and found the missing votes that gave Roe the general election. Some may think it’s outrageous that California didn’t pay for the recount. Roe and his allies think it’s outrageous that anyone did.
The Mercury News editorial board called Low’s tactics “shameful, politically expedient, anti-democratic demonization” in one editorial, “Low’s hyperventilation” in another, and “a stunning, anti-democratic act that put[Low’s]political objectives above accurate vote tallying” in an editorial by an editorial board member. By his own admission, Low attacked the recount because he feared an accurate tally would cost him the election. So the complaints of Low and his supporters seem fundamentally disingenuous.
Anyone can file a complaint with the FEC. Complainants do not have to provide any specific evidence for their complaint. They understand that just filing a complaint is enough to make headlines and raise suspicions. Liccardo won the March primary by more than 8,000 votes and holds a sizable lead in the race. Recent Opinion PollsLaw and his associates appear to have become so desperate that they are now using the FEC to try to smear Rickard.
The first plaintiff, Max Zarzana, heads the Government Lawyers Association, a powerful special interest group that has repeatedly raised and spent money to oppose Lickard and support Roe (as have PG&E and the California Apartment Association, a powerful statewide landlord group). The second plaintiff, Brian J. O’Grady, has focused his legal practice on “tipping” litigation. Neither of them has any knowledge of election law.
The complaint alleges that there was illegal collusion between Liccardo and the outside parties that paid for the recount. However, no evidence of collusion is presented. Curiously, the “smoking gun” the complaint presents are pre-recount polls that showed Liccardo with a significant lead in a three-way race. This is an absurd claim. It makes no sense to break the law when Liccardo was already so far ahead.
Still, Evan Roe’s campaign continues to trumpet the news about these complaints. For example, just minutes after the second complaint was filed, Roe’s campaign issued a press release:
The complaint against Mr. Rickard appears in part to be an attempt to obscure Mr. Roe’s own, more substantial legal case for violating campaign finance laws: The California Fair Political Practices Commission has opened a formal investigation into Mr. Roe’s failure to disclose fundraising from powerful Sacramento groups that funneled money into a “nonprofit foundation” that existed primarily to get Mr. Roe onstage in front of donors.
The FEC exists to hold elected officials accountable for real wrongdoing. The charges against Mr. Rickard were filed without any evidence whatsoever and are a dirty political ploy to mislead voters. We need to better inform voters so they can distinguish between charges that are backed by evidence and those based on unfounded speculation, and we must hold accountable those who confuse the two.
Anne Lovell is the Chair of the Silicon Valley Ethics Roundtable and a former appointee to the Judicial Council of California, a former Chairman of the Federal Election Commission, a former Counselor for Santa Clara County, and a former Chair of the California Fair Political Practices Commission.
