Candidate’s finance records questioned

The Idaho Democratic Party filed a formal complaint Friday about how a Coeur d’Alene legislative candidate is keeping her finance records.

The complaint filed with the Idaho Secretary of State accuses Republican Marge Chadderdon of not disclosing more than $2,000 in advertisements that appeared in the Coeur d’Alene Press between June and Oct. 25.

Democratic challenger Mike Gridley raised the question about Chadderdon’s sunshine report Thursday after he saw numerous advertisements in the Press but no disclosure.

State Democrats say they suspect that other North Idaho candidates are violating the same law by not showing that they have outstanding debts to the Coeur d’Alene newspaper. That, they say, prevents Idaho voters from getting an accurate picture of how and where politicians are spending their campaign resources.

Chadderdon wasn’t available for comment Friday but she said earlier in the week that she didn’t get the bill for the advertisements until after the last deadline for the pre-general election report. Her campaign paid the Press $4,000 Wednesday to cover the remaining balance. Chadderdon said she was doing nothing deceptive and that Gridley’s accusations had little merit.

Weeg said that not getting the bill is no excuse for not reporting the outstanding debt because the price of Chadderdon’s ads would have been known at the time she ordered them from the Press.

Maria Weeg, Idaho Democratic Party executive director, said new laws are needed to require all political candidates to pay for newspaper and other advertising in advance so the expenditures appear on the sunshine reports.

She said that would prevent newspapers from giving unreported in-kind donations to candidates by never sending them a bill. Weeg said that if the Press was giving away advertisements, the public would have no way of knowing whether the newspaper exceeded the $1,000 in-kind donation limit.

Paul Burke, director of advertising for Hagadone’s North Idaho newspapers, said Thursday the Press does not give away free ads and that it often doesn’t require political candidates who have an existing account with the newspaper to pay in advance. Chadderdon’s family-owned business, Great Floors, from which she is retired, has an ongoing account with the Press.

Weeg said the public also wouldn’t know if Great Floors was paying for Chadderdon’s ads, exceeding the in-kind limit.

The Press required Gridley to pay in advance for his newspaper advertisements.

“We have eyeball proof that ads have run already and that it’s not been reported on any sunshine reports,” Weeg said. “It’s about providing voters with as much information so they can make an informed decision about who they are choosing to represent them.”

Democrats say they plan to review other candidates’ finance reports, including Democrats, to see if the same inconsistencies are occurring.

Senate candidate Ian Stenseng, a Democrat, said he shares the same concern about his opponent, Sen. Dick Compton, R-Coeur d’Alene. Stenseng said Compton has run numerous advertisements in the Press but his reports show no payments to the newspaper or any outstanding debt.

Stenseng said the Press wouldn’t let him review Compton’s invoices until Monday, when the newspaper’s business manager returns from vacation.

Compton wasn’t available for comment.