Republican election group files ethics complaint after Laura Kelly's campaign challenged political ad

A national Republican group has filed an ethics complaint against a top state bureaucrat after Gov. Laura Kelly's campaign pressured Kansas television stations to remove a political advertisement critical of her.

The Republican Governors Association alleges that Department for Children and Families Secretary Laura Howard violated law about state employee involvement in political activities.

"Secretary Howard, in her taxpayer-funded official capacity — and on official letterhead no less — has inserted herself, her state agency, and the Governor’s office into a partisan, political fight, in defense of a political campaign advertisement in support of Governor Kelly’s campaign," the RGA alleged in its May 18 complaint. "This use of taxpayer-supported resources for the private gain of a political candidate represents the precise evil the statute was designed to prevent."

The complaint, which the RGA provided to The Capital-Journal, stems from a pair of competing ads between Kelly's campaign and the RGA with a mutual "middle of the road" theme.

In a letter from the law firm of Marc Elias, a prominent national Democratic attorney, the Kelly campaign challenged the RGA ad's accuracy on a claim about food stamp work requirements. As part of the May 16 challenge, attorneys sent TV stations a document penned by Howard.

Howard's letter — addressed to Will Lawrence, Kelly's chief of staff — was dated the same day the law firm sent its demand letter.

RGA officials allege that it is unethical and illegal for a government employee to aid a political campaign in such a way.

"Of course the RGA is complaining," said Kelly campaign spokesperson Lauren Fitzgerald. "Their ad was false, and they don’t want anyone correcting the record with the facts.

"It’s disappointing - but not surprising - that the RGA is lying about Governor Kelly’s strong track record. It’s this type of campaigning that Kansans despise. The Governor has a strong record of getting Kansas back on track: she’s governed from the middle, she’s been able to accomplish big wins for Kansas families – like eliminating the state tax on food, cutting property taxes, tax cuts for teachers, veterans, and seniors and more.”

Republican political ad challenged by Laura Kelly's campaign

In dispute is the RGA ad's narration claiming that "Laura Kelly stopped requiring healthy adults to look for work while receiving welfare checks."

The letter from two Elias attorneys listed as counsel to Kelly's campaign alleges that television stations are airing "false and misleading advertising" and hints at a threat to station licenses if they continue to air the ad.

Howard's letter states that DCF verified no Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program exemptions were claimed in federal fiscal years 2019 and 2020 to extend benefits for able-bodied adults without dependents.

The RGA maintains that their claim is truthful. They point to a July 2019 report from the Associated Press that DCF provided food assistance to 5,500 adults that month who were supposed to be cut off due to not meeting the work requirement.

The governor's office reversed course in 2019 after Attorney General Derek Schmidt threatened to sue. Schmidt is now the leading GOP challenger in this year's gubernatorial race.

Kelly's lawyers offered Howard's letter as evidence that the policy was rescinded before it was implemented and that no SNAP beneficiaries "received any added benefit."

Television stations continue to air the ad after accepting the RGA's response.

Complaint alleges Kelly coordinated unethical move

The RGA response to Kelly's campaign cited a pair of state statutes that make it illegal for a state officer to compel an employee to engage in political activity and permit discipline for state employees if they use their position, job time or state property in connection with a political campaign.

"It’s somewhat surprising that the Secretary would be willing to flout state law and commit an ethics violation in order to support her employer," wrote RGA counsel Jessica Furst Johnson.

The complaint alleges that Kelly orchestrated the move.

"These circumstances indicate that Governor Kelly, in her official capacity, coordinated with her Chief of Staff to direct Secretary Howard to write this official letter in defense of her Campaign," the complaint states. "These actions directly violate at least two of the State’s public integrity statutes."

Kelly's campaign did not directly respond to a question about what role the campaign had in producing or obtaining Howard's letter. Howard's agency did not immediately respond to questions about why she wrote the letter and whether she knew it would be used for political purposes.

Ethics complaint process may take months

Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission executive director Mark Skoglund said he can neither confirm nor deny the existence of a complaint.

Procedurally, the ethics commission must determine sufficiency of a complaint, then at its next meeting determine probable cause. If there is probable cause, then a public hearing is announced at the third meeting, and the complaint becomes public at that time. That process typically takes about three months.

The ethics commission held an executive session on Wednesday, which RGA officials said was to determine the sufficiency of their complaint.

Challenging ads rarely succeed

Washburn University political science professor Bob Beatty, who maintains an online archive of 2,000 political ads in Kansas, said it is much more common for a campaign to challenge an ad than it is to succeed in getting it pulled.

"The courts have largely said we want nothing to do with this," Beatty said. "... The courts kind of punted it to the TV stations."

Likewise, his research has found that TV stations also don't want to be the arbiters of truth when it comes to political speech.

"One campaign will write a letter to a TV station and say, we demand you take this off the air," Beatty said. "TV stations can do it, but in general, they really don't want to get in the middle of it. So it tends to be rare. In fact, I don't know of an instance in Kansas where it's happened."

The most recent public spat over an ad's accuracy, Beatty said, was a 2018 ad on a 2015 tax increase. The ad came in the GOP primary for the 2nd Congressional District, featuring Steve Watkins and Caryn Tyson.

More: GOP candidate Tyson denounces super PAC's ad for 'lying' about tax vote

Despite the low chance of success, campaigns may still challenge an ad as part of a broader political strategy.

"Politically, it can be a campaign strategy to make some noise and maybe get some media coverage, at least get the argument out," Beatty said. "More traditionally, a campaign or a PAC will respond to an ad that they argue is false with another ad."

Jason Tidd is a statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jtidd@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jason_Tidd.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: RGA files Kansas ethics complaint after Laura Kelly challenges TV ad