A political action committee formed last fall by the president of the public employee union that represents state employees, paid nearly $17,000 for radio ads targeting four of the 10 Republican senators participating in a quorum-denying walkout that has prevented the Senate from passing bills for more than three weeks, state campaign finance records and records from the Federal Communications Commission show.
Hold Politicians Accountable鈥檚 ads ran from May 20 to May 22 in Bend, Eugene, La Grande, Lebanon, Tillamook and Warrenton, according to FCC data. They targeted Republican Sens. Tim Knopp of Bend, Lynn Findley of Vale, Cedric Hayden of Fall Creek and Suzanne Weber of Tillamook.
All four have participated in the walkout, and Knopp and Weber represent districts Democrats hope to pick up in 2024 or 2026.
The ads run about a minute long and describe how the Senate GOP walkout has blocked the Legislature from passing bills on affordable housing, drought and wildfire protection and overdose prevention. At the end, an announcer reads the senator鈥檚 legislative phone number and asks listeners to tell them to get back to work.
The radio ads, like from a shadowy group that popped up during last year鈥檚 election and have continued through this legislative session, appear to operate in a gray area in state campaign finance laws. requires that any 鈥渃ommunication in support of or in opposition to a clearly identified candidate by a political committee鈥� must include the name of a political committee and its five biggest donors, and a based on that ad requires political action committees to include their numerical ID in those disclosures.
But none of the Republican senators targeted by the ads are candidates 鈥� and it鈥檚 an open question whether they鈥檒l be allowed to file as candidates for upcoming elections because they鈥檝e run afoul of a law voters approved last fall to block lawmakers with 10 or more unexcused absences from serving another term.
Bryan Iverson, director of the Senate GOP鈥檚 political action committee and a separate committee fundraising for the senators participating in the walkout, filed a complaint with the Secretary of State鈥檚 Office on Wednesday over the PAC not including a numerical ID on ads running in Bend. Iverson is also married to House Minority Leader Vikki Breese-Iverson, R-Prineville.
Eugene-based political consultant Jake Pelroy filed a second complaint Friday, including audio from ads targeting Knopp and Hayden. The ads include disclosures that Hold Politicians Accountable paid for them, but they don鈥檛 include the committee鈥檚 numerical ID.
The PAC鈥檚 controlled by Service Employees International Union 503. Communications Director Pati Urias told the Capital Chronicle by email that the complaint was a non-issue because the ads clearly state that Hold Politicians Accountable paid for them.
鈥淎nd these are not campaign expenditures, thus not a violation of campaign finance laws,鈥� Urias added.
The committee formed in October 2022 under the name 鈥淢eet Christine Drazan鈥� and received nearly $950,000 from unions, the Democratic Governors Association and then-candidate-for-governor Tina Kotek. It rebranded as 鈥淗old Politicians Accountable鈥� later in the fall and spent nearly $550,000 attacking Drazan, the Republican candidate for governor.
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