McKenna, GOP file lawsuits over mailers

OLYMPIA – Attorney General Rob McKenna on Friday sued the state Republican Party over alleged campaign finance violations, leading the party to file its own lawsuit contending its First Amendment rights are being violated.

Shortly after the Republican attorney general filed his lawsuit in King County Superior Court, the state GOP filed its lawsuit against the state Public Disclosure Commission in U.S. District Court in Seattle.

“It is a violation of our constitutional rights for the government to attempt to deprive us of the opportunity to communicate with our members on the same terms as labor unions and insurance companies, and we believe our constitutional rights will ultimately be vindicated,” state GOP Chairman Luke Esser said in a written statement.

The lawsuits come after the Public Disclosure Commission asked McKenna to make a final determination as to whether state Republicans used the wrong account to pay for three mailers promoting Republican Dino Rossi over Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire in the August primary election for governor. In a ruling last week, the commission said the party apparently committed multiple violations of campaign finance law.

The Republican Party said the mailings were “internal political communications” sent only to party members, as it defines them.

Before the primary, Republicans sent out three mailings that attacked Gregoire on public safety, taxes and spending. Each contained Rossi’s photos and quotations, and the statement, “Vote for Dino Rossi and our entire State Republican Team in the Aug. 19 Primary.”

The state’s political parties have two types of campaign accounts – “exempt” and “nonexempt” – to pay for political activities in state and local races.

Nonexempt accounts can be used for candidate campaigns, but contributions to those accounts are capped at $4,000 from interest groups and political action committees.

Exempt accounts are not subject to donation caps, but can only be used for such things as fundraising activities and get-out-the-vote campaigns. Individual candidates can’t be promoted.

The lawsuit filed by McKenna contends the GOP used those exempt accounts to pay nearly $213,000 for the mailings. The party could face civil penalties of $40,000, and liability for investigative and court fees. McKenna spokeswoman Janelle Guthrie said the court could triple the damages if it finds that the violations were intentional.

Republican Party spokesman Matthew Lundh said the party believes that because the money was used on internal communications, it doesn’t matter what account was used.

A complaint over the mailings was filed with the PDC on Aug. 18 by Bellevue attorney Kyle Olive.

McKenna’s lawsuit was assigned to Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ramsdell, with a preliminary trial date of March 29, 2010.

Immediately after filing the lawsuit, McKenna handed all responsibility for the case to his chief deputy, Brian Moran.

Guthrie said McKenna stepped aside because of his long-standing friendship with Esser, who has worked for McKenna in the past.