Miami Herald: Florida lawmakers want names behind political attack ads

This story was published in the Miami Herald on September 2, 2009

A race-baiting flier. Shadowy attack groups. Hidden campaign money.

The tactics in a bare-knuckle special election to succeed Republican Sen. Jim King of Jacksonville have prompted legislators on both sides of the aisle to call for a quick fix to a Florida campaign-finance loophole before it wreaks havoc in state elections.

The loophole was opened this summer when U.S. District Judge Stephan Mickle struck down a Florida campaign law. It violated the free-speech rights of citizens by imposing too many requirements on people engaging in political activity, Mickle ruled. The result: Such ”electioneering communications organizations” — which can raise and spend unlimited money to influence elections — no longer have to disclose basic information such as the names of members, their contributions or their affiliations.

With the 2010 election season heating up, legislators say they want to reinstate some disclosure rules for the groups who could take aim at candidates in races for state house and senate, governor, attorney general, chief financial officer, and agriculture commissioner.

At least six of the groups already are trying to influence the Northeast Florida senate race — the first major election since Mickle’s ruling. The all-Republican slate: Dan Quiggle, John Thrasher, Stan Jordan and Art Graham. ”The Jacksonville case just highlights how important transparency is when it comes to these groups,” said Rep. Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, scheduled to become House speaker in November.

He said the Legislature needs to ”act quickly” to rewrite the disclosure law so it will pass a court challenge.

Had the law not been struck down, groups such as the Conservative Voters’ Coalition, the Committee for Responsible Representation and Stop Tax Waste would have been required to report to the state on Friday where they got their money and how they spent it.

The Conservative Voters’ Coalition drew statewide attention by distributing a flier with a lineup of pictures of President Barack Obama, Louis Farrakhan, black ACORN activists and two apparent members of the Black Panthers. It doesn’t show a single white face, and suggests that the people pictured on the fliers are complicit in suppressing Republicans.

The flier, professionally produced on heavy card stock, is labeled ”official absentee ballot request form” and asks voters: ”Is this the change you want to believe in? Violence and intimidation at the voting booth.”

The coalition lists a post office box for an address, and the group is not registered as a political committee with the state Division of Elections. As a result of Mickle’s decision, it doesn’t have to be — nor does it have to offer any clues to the state regarding the group’s membership or goals in the four-way GOP race.

One of the Republican political operatives linked to the group, consultant/lobbyist Bill Helmich, said he couldn’t discuss any potential client. Still, he said he believes that the state should pass a law requiring instant disclosure on the Internet of basic information on any political group. ”I fight by the rules, that’s how you win a war,” Helmich said. ”But in the interest of the public, there should be more disclosure.”

Right now, though, the public can’t tell who’s behind the Committee for Responsible Representation, a group hitting back at trial lawyer-backed committees criticizing Thrasher. The committee lists only a Newberry, Fla., post office box.

Under the old law, the shadowy committees would have had to report their campaign finance activity four days before the Sept. 15 election. They would have been prohibited from raising and spending money in the race for five days before the election — the same disclosure schedule required of candidates.

No more. The only glimpse into their finances will come months later, by Jan. 31 2010, on the website of the Internal Revenue Service. It regulates these electioneering groups, which also are called ”527s” after a section of the tax code.

Some political operatives expect legislators to close the state’s campaign-finance loophole. ”I think there’s going to be disclosure next year,” said T.J. Harrington, president of Stop Tax Waste, a group that hammered Thrasher for wasteful spending when he was House speaker, 1998-2000.

Both critics and supporters of the now-defunct campaign law acknowledge that it went too far and said they weren’t surprised Mickle struck it down.

The case was brought by the Broward Coalition of Condominiums, which argued it shouldn’t have to register with the state and report its fundraising activity simply because it printed information about ballot issues in a newsletter to its members.

Bert Gall, a lawyer with the libertarian Institute for Justice of Washington, D.C., who represented the Broward Coalition, said he opposes regulation of groups attempting to exercise free speech. He said the regulations Mickle struck down were so severe it made it nearly impossible for regular citizens to speak out in elections, leaving politicians a monopoly on speech. ”The politicians are going to have to accept that people are going to speak freely,” Gall said. ”This law wasn’t passed out of some far-reaching concern for the public. It was passed by politicians to protect politicians and control political speech, which is too important to be left to politicians.”

Marc Caputo can be reached at mcaputo@

MiamiHerald.com.