Charges fly, then fizzle in Idaho governor’s race

BOISE - Charges flew over the weekend as the Idaho Republican Party claimed that the Idaho Democratic Party and Democratic candidate for governor A.J. Balukoff were doing something “shady” involving passing money back and forth that might violate campaign finance laws. The Democrats responded that Balukoff had contracted out his campaign payroll services to the state party, and it was all reported, legal and on the up-and-up. This morning, the Idaho Secretary of State’s office looked into it and found no violation at all, instead concluding it’s just “that time of year.” The state GOP now says it won’t pursue any complaint. Dean Ferguson, executive director of the Idaho Democratic Party, said, “I’m guessing they feel a little silly about it.” Balukoff, a CPA and millionaire Boise businessman, is challenging Idaho GOP Gov. Butch Otter as he seeks a third term. The race also includes Libertarian candidate John Bujak, Constitution Party candidate Steve Pankey, and two independent candidates, Jill Humble and “Pro-Life,” who legally changed his name from Marvin Richardson. Late Friday night, the Idaho Republican Party sent out a press release headed, “Are A.J. Balukoff and the Idaho Democrat Party violating campaign finance law with their payroll practices?” It charged that “Balukoff isn’t paying his staff,” and instead campaign staffers are being paid by the party while Balukoff donates funds to the party to cover the costs. Jason Risch, attorney for the Idaho GOP, termed this an “abnormal shuffling of funds” and said he thought it could mean the Democratic Party was exceeding the $10,000 limit on contributions to a candidate, “including in-kind contributions such as paying for a candidate’s staff.” The Democrats responded with their own press release on Saturday, saying the party has a contract with Balukoff’s campaign to manage payroll services and there’s nothing in the deal that violates campaign finance laws. “IDP’s contract has been carefully vetted by CPAs as well as compliance experts. We are fully confident in its legality,” the party said in its release. Tim Hurst, chief deputy Idaho Secretary of State, said Monday morning, “We talked to the Democratic Party. The way it’s working is Mr. Balukoff’s campaign actually prepays for the services. So he’s always ahead. There’s no violation of limits.” Balukoff provides the money up-front, and then the party disburses it for his payroll. “It’s part of the contract that he has with the party,” Hurst said. “I don’t see a violation there.” He added, “It’s just that time of year.” “If they can satisfy the Secretary of State and make that clear to them that everything is fine and dandy, then that’s good, and that’s ultimately what the purpose of our press release was about,” said Dave Johnston, Idaho GOP executive director. “We had received this complaint from several concerned people who brought this to our attention.” He said the questions focused on the post-primary election campaign finance reports filed in May both by the Idaho Democratic Party and by Balukoff’s campaign, in which payments were shown but the GOP thought it wasn’t clear “what is what, and if it’s a donation or whether it’s a service that is being rendered.” Johnston added, “If the Secretary of State is satisfied, we’re not going to go forward with it.”