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NRA, Hickey accused of breaking state campaign law
Josey1
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NRA, Hickey accused of breaking state campaign law
By MEAD GRUVER
Associated Press Writer
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - In the 11th hour before the primary, gubernatorial candidates Eli Bebout and Paul Hickey scrambled to distance themselves from potentially illegal recorded telephone solicitations.
National Rifle Association members in Wyoming started getting recorded telephone messages endorsing Bebout, a Republican, after the NRA formally endorsed Bebout on Friday.
The NRA's field office representative for Wyoming, Wil Lederer, said Monday that he did not know anything about the messages. Several messages left with receptionists at the NRA were not returned Monday.
Registered Democrats have meanwhile been getting recorded telephone messages in which Hickey urged them to vote in the primary.
Spokesmen for both campaigns said the calls did not continue Monday.
At the same time, the Wyoming Education Association has endorsed gubernatorial candidates Bill Sniffin, a Republican, and Democrats Hickey and Dave Freudenthal in its own recorded telephone messages.
WEA President Gary McDowell said Monday that Wyoming law contradicts itself on the subject, but he believes the WEA has the right to communicate freely with its members.
State law prohibits the use of an automated telephone system in any way related to a political campaign. Exceptions in the Wyoming Consumer Protection Act include numbers that are not on a nationwide do-not-call list or calls that are part of an "established business relationship."
However, "That's probably more related to purchased goods or services and not to a promoting a political campaign," said Secretary of State Joe Meyer, Wyoming's chief elections officer.
Meyer said his office had not been informed, except through the media, of any illegal telephone solicitations related to political campaigns. He said any complaints should be made through local prosecutors.
One NRA member, Tim Hoffman, of Wheatland, got a recorded call backing Bebout on Saturday, according to the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle.
"My wife took the call and she hung up on it. She told me about it and I was livid," Hoffman told the newspaper.
Hoffman said he was thinking about canceling his NRA membership. "I don't appreciate the NRA telling me who to vote for."
Bebout spokesman Chris George said nevertheless that Bebout, a lifetime NRA member, was proud of the organization's endorsement. George said Bebout campaign manager Gale Geringer had spoken with NRA officials and was told the calls ended last weekend.
In a release Monday, Bebout said his campaign is one his mother is proud of - the same phrase he used after Sniffin brought up his past support for building a nuclear waste dump in Wyoming. "I am proud to say that I have run an honorable and ethical campaign focused on the issues that will move Wyoming forward," Bebout said.
But another Republican candidate for governor, Ray Hunkins, said the damage has been done. "You can't put the toothpaste back into the tube."
"To the extent that an out-of-state PAC, or out-of-state organization, doesn't know what the law is, it is the responsibility of the candidate to make certain that they are instructed so that the candidate isn't embarrassed and membership of the organization is not embarrassed and that the organization itself is not embarrassed," he said.
Hickey spokesman Dave Lerner said Hickey's campaign got the idea for the automated calls from former Secretary of State Kathy Karpan, who said such calls were used effectively against her in 1994 and 1996.
"Basically we've been following the election code," Lerner said. "It's not in the election code. As soon as we were informed that there was something else in the statutes, we pulled the messages."
Hickey was endorsed in the WEA's recorded calls as well.
"We did a trial with some automated calls on a very limited basis to members," McDowell explained. "Basically they were contacts to our specific members encouraging them to vote and to support the endorsed candidates."
McDowell said his organization, which represents teachers in Wyoming, checked with its contractor beforehand to see whether the calls would violate state election laws.
"In the election code it expressly authorizes communication to the members of an organization," he said.
McDowell believes other parts of the state statutes are contradictory on the issue.
"It is not clear and we believe that there is a strong protection in terms of our ability to have freedom of speech and to communicate to our members," he said.
http://www.trib.com/HOMENEWS/WYO/20AutomatedCalls.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
By MEAD GRUVER
Associated Press Writer
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - In the 11th hour before the primary, gubernatorial candidates Eli Bebout and Paul Hickey scrambled to distance themselves from potentially illegal recorded telephone solicitations.
National Rifle Association members in Wyoming started getting recorded telephone messages endorsing Bebout, a Republican, after the NRA formally endorsed Bebout on Friday.
The NRA's field office representative for Wyoming, Wil Lederer, said Monday that he did not know anything about the messages. Several messages left with receptionists at the NRA were not returned Monday.
Registered Democrats have meanwhile been getting recorded telephone messages in which Hickey urged them to vote in the primary.
Spokesmen for both campaigns said the calls did not continue Monday.
At the same time, the Wyoming Education Association has endorsed gubernatorial candidates Bill Sniffin, a Republican, and Democrats Hickey and Dave Freudenthal in its own recorded telephone messages.
WEA President Gary McDowell said Monday that Wyoming law contradicts itself on the subject, but he believes the WEA has the right to communicate freely with its members.
State law prohibits the use of an automated telephone system in any way related to a political campaign. Exceptions in the Wyoming Consumer Protection Act include numbers that are not on a nationwide do-not-call list or calls that are part of an "established business relationship."
However, "That's probably more related to purchased goods or services and not to a promoting a political campaign," said Secretary of State Joe Meyer, Wyoming's chief elections officer.
Meyer said his office had not been informed, except through the media, of any illegal telephone solicitations related to political campaigns. He said any complaints should be made through local prosecutors.
One NRA member, Tim Hoffman, of Wheatland, got a recorded call backing Bebout on Saturday, according to the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle.
"My wife took the call and she hung up on it. She told me about it and I was livid," Hoffman told the newspaper.
Hoffman said he was thinking about canceling his NRA membership. "I don't appreciate the NRA telling me who to vote for."
Bebout spokesman Chris George said nevertheless that Bebout, a lifetime NRA member, was proud of the organization's endorsement. George said Bebout campaign manager Gale Geringer had spoken with NRA officials and was told the calls ended last weekend.
In a release Monday, Bebout said his campaign is one his mother is proud of - the same phrase he used after Sniffin brought up his past support for building a nuclear waste dump in Wyoming. "I am proud to say that I have run an honorable and ethical campaign focused on the issues that will move Wyoming forward," Bebout said.
But another Republican candidate for governor, Ray Hunkins, said the damage has been done. "You can't put the toothpaste back into the tube."
"To the extent that an out-of-state PAC, or out-of-state organization, doesn't know what the law is, it is the responsibility of the candidate to make certain that they are instructed so that the candidate isn't embarrassed and membership of the organization is not embarrassed and that the organization itself is not embarrassed," he said.
Hickey spokesman Dave Lerner said Hickey's campaign got the idea for the automated calls from former Secretary of State Kathy Karpan, who said such calls were used effectively against her in 1994 and 1996.
"Basically we've been following the election code," Lerner said. "It's not in the election code. As soon as we were informed that there was something else in the statutes, we pulled the messages."
Hickey was endorsed in the WEA's recorded calls as well.
"We did a trial with some automated calls on a very limited basis to members," McDowell explained. "Basically they were contacts to our specific members encouraging them to vote and to support the endorsed candidates."
McDowell said his organization, which represents teachers in Wyoming, checked with its contractor beforehand to see whether the calls would violate state election laws.
"In the election code it expressly authorizes communication to the members of an organization," he said.
McDowell believes other parts of the state statutes are contradictory on the issue.
"It is not clear and we believe that there is a strong protection in terms of our ability to have freedom of speech and to communicate to our members," he said.
http://www.trib.com/HOMENEWS/WYO/20AutomatedCalls.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878