I wrote about my job as campaign manager for North Dakota Secretary of State candidate Corey Mock in this diary.
Our opponent is not a fan of campaigning, feels entitled to the office, and is getting very scared. So he decided to call in the ED of the NDGOP to take over his campaign. The fun started last week.
Join me below, won't you?
After leaving a candidate off of the June primary ballot and sending another candidate a certificate of endorsement for the general election despite not receiving enough votes, the hits keep coming with our opponent. We held a press conference calling out Secretary Jaeger's lack of management in the office, and received this preemptive press release from the Republicans:
North Dakota Republican Party Press Release
LIBERAL ACTIVIST MOCK DISTORTS JAEGER RECORD FOR POLITICAL POINTS
Desperate to Stay Relevant, Mock Continues Throwing Wild and Unsubstantiated Charges at Incumbent
BISMARCK - Desperate to stay relevant, State Rep. Corey Mock is yet again trying to draw attention away from his own record of supporting bigger government and higher taxes in his race against Secretary of State Al Jaeger.
Mock's latest distortions charge inefficiency and excessive overtime pay in the Secretary of State office. This account chooses to selectively ignore key facts about the office's operations.
The number of registered businesses in North Dakota has doubled since Jaeger entered office and his staff size has remained level. Jaeger's office has been at the forefront of agency management in the state, often maintaining a surplus in his office budget despite the increasing demands on his office.
"Liberal activist Corey Mock is running a negative campaign because he doesn't want to talk about his tax-and-spend record," said Adam Jones, Executive Director of the North Dakota Republican Party. "Mock has never even run a popsicle stand and now he's wildly distorting the record of a distinguished public servant to try and stay relevant."
Mock's own record is both liberal and hostile to jobs-creators. In just two years in the legislature, Mock has already amassed a voting record antagonistic to North Dakota businesses. The North Dakota Chamber of Commerce gives him a 50 percent rating.
"We hope Mock uses this press conference to talk about how he will manage the Secretary of State's office in light of all the new regulations and taxes businesses in North Dakota will face as a result of legislation passed by national Democrats," Jones said.
Because, you know, legislation passed by national Democrats is going to impose new regulations and taxes on small businesses. Or something.
Republicans are scared of our campaign. TV and radio are relatively cheap in North Dakota, so every little bit helps. Please help us put up our ads.
Anyway... on to us breaking the law.
A few months ago, we called out our opponent for outsourcing our democracy - he signed a contract with a bankrupt, out-of-state company to print our ballots. His only response at that time?
“I was not aware that they were [bankrupt]."
This, despite the fact that when you type Synergy Graphics into the googles, their first suggestion is "Synergy Graphics bankruptcy." But that is neither here nor there.
Yesterday - two and a half months later - our opponent and his operatives decided that maybe they should bring this story back up... only with a new twist. Apparently we lied back then, it wasn't important, but now it is. So on a right-wing radio show yesterday, our opponent accused us of lying (again, two and a half months ago), and Corey should go to jail for a year and pay a two thousand dollar fine. Warning: right-wing blog... feel free not to give them any page views. (emphasis mine)
In the on-going food fight in what may be North Dakota’s only competitive state-level race, incumbent Republican Secretary of State Al Jaeger is suggesting that challenger and state Representative Corey Mock may have broken the law in sending out a misleading news release.
snip
According to Jaeger, in making these allegations Mock may have violated state law prohibiting the publishing of false information in political advertisements.
Said state law (again, emphasis mine):
16.1-10-04. Publication of false information in political advertisements – Penalty
A person is guilty of a class A misdemeanor if that person knowingly, or with reckless disregard for its truth or falsity, publishes any political advertisement or news release that contains any assertion, representation, or statement of fact, including information concerning a candidate’s prior public record, which is untrue, deceptive, or misleading...
Never mind that the facts are on our side - facts have a liberal bias, doncha know! Supporting documents are here and here (pdf).
So, once again: we call out our opponent two and a half months ago (and did nothing illegal). In the meantime, our campaign has been successful and it became illegal. Riiiiiiight.
I welcome the Executive Director of the NDGOP to bring these charges to the Burleigh County State's Attorney and see what he has to say about all of this. That would be fun.
Actblue page here.
Cheers!