Scott Gessler in The Newsballot initiatives,
campaign finance,
conflict of interest,
dunk tank,
election,
expanding government,
fear mongering,
glitches,
inactive voters,
lawsuit,
minority voters,
moonlighting,
partisan,
reimbursement,
self-payment,
special interest influence,
theft,
vote suppression
Scott Gessler to share conservative voter-fraud panel with controversial True the Vote groupOctober 02, 2012 - Westword Secretary of State Scott Gessler likes to say that it should be easy to vote and tough to cheat, but his critics argue that he is a lot more focused on the latter -- especially when it comes to voters who aren't Republican. While Gessler has tried to disprove those accusations, his appearance this week at a conservative voter-fraud panel is not doing much to appease critics. Keywords: conflict of interest, minority voters, special interest influence, vote suppression PERRY: I VOTE FOR CHANGING GESSLER FROM ELECTIONS CHIEF BACK TO BEING PARTISAN GOP LAWYERSeptember 06, 2012 - Aurora Sentinel And the non-Christian, misguided, freedom-hating, government-bashing, communistic, left-leaning Colorado residents who don’t believe in the fundamental goodness of America are supposed to trust this Midwest carpet-bagging lawyer to be honest and fair in administrating election law? In a swing state with so much at stake in November, we’re supposed to believe that Gessler won’t morph into the notorious Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris on Election Day? Read full article (Aurora Sentinel website)Keywords: conflict of interest, fear mongering, minority voters, special interest influence, vote suppression Gessler waived most of activists' campaign finesAugust 30, 2012 - Denver Post Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler waived tens of thousands of dollars in campaign disclosure fines for three men who pushed three ballot initiatives to cut taxes and restrict the state's finances in 2010. Jeff Gross, Louis Schroeder, and Russell Haas racked up more than $20,000 in late fees each for failing to file campaign finance disclosures after a judge's order. Read full article (Denver Post website)Keywords: campaign finance, conflict of interest, special interest influence State Integrity: Tiny Fine for Big Campaign Finance ViolatorsAugust 30, 2012 - Colorado Public Radio It’s a pretty sweet deal. Three men, facing tens of thousands of dollars in fines for campaign finance violations, wound up getting slapped with the equivalent of a parking ticket. But how? CPR's Megan Verlee takes us through one tale of campaign finance waivers. Then Megan talks with host Ryan Warner about how the public can use the same database she did to find this story. Read full article (Colorado Public Radio website)Keywords: ballot initiatives, campaign finance, conflict of interest, special interest influence Scott Gessler rule changes rejected, watchdog groups pleasedAugust 15, 2012 - Westword Secretary of State Scott Gessler wants to make it easier for political groups to remain secretive about their spending by rewriting election rules and weakening disclosure laws. That's according to two watchdog groups, who praise a court ruling that blocks most of Gessler's efforts. Denver District Court has struck down key campaign finance rule changes adopted earlier this year, but the case isn't closed yet: Gessler says he plans to appeal. Read full article (Westword website)Keywords: campaign finance, conflict of interest, election, special interest influence Judge rejects Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler's changesAugust 11, 2012 - Denver Post A Denver District Court judge has invalidated several — and upheld one — of the changes Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler made to campaign-finance regulations in March. Read full article (Denver Post website)Keywords: campaign finance, election, lawsuit, special interest influence Scott Gessler: A 'Good Election' is when 'Republicans Win'June 26, 2012 - Huffington Post ColoradoPols.com unearthed a video of Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler talking about election integrity that may raise come eyebrows. 'So, obviously we have a big election coming up and everyone is -- properly so, I think -- very intensely involved, but there's always a lot of uptightness about it too, a lot of accusations being hurled about. So, let me talk a little bit about what we're looking at, at least from my perspective, in the election. I mean how do you know if you have a good election? Well, Republicans win, of course.' - Scott Gessler Read full article (Huffington Post website)Keywords: election, special interest influence, vote suppression Guarding against the corrupting influence of moneyApril 08, 2012 - The Denver Post Ingenious efforts to thwart the people's right to know who is spending to influence elections have always kept a step ahead of disclosure laws. In light of the Colorado Supreme Court's recent "magic words" ruling, the disconnect is greater now than ever. And, it will only get worse if Secretary of State Scott Gessler's new campaign finance regulations, which among other things would effectively repeal the requirement that 527s disclose their spending, survive inevitable legal challenges. Read full article (The Denver Post website)Keywords: campaign finance, special interest influence, vote suppression Watchdog groups sue Colorado secretary of state over campaign-finance lawsApril 07, 2012 - The Denver Post Two organizations sued Secretary of State Scott Gessler on Friday, saying he weakened Colorado's campaign-finance laws when heissued a rewrite of the state's rules earlier this yearand that he didn't have authority to do so. Keywords: campaign finance, lawsuit, special interest influence, vote suppression Our Secretary of State as a Punch LineMarch 08, 2012 - The Huffington Post Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler has become a punch line. I witnessed this recently in a local restaurant. I heard "Scott Gessler" across the room, followed by peals of laughter. No joke. I follow the secretary of state closely because of his self-described attempts to "further the conservative agenda" and voter suppression efforts that match those of the national Republican Party. Read full article (The Huffington Post website)Keywords: ballot initiatives, campaign finance, minority voters, special interest influence, vote suppression Scott Gessler dubbed rock star by NPR, but he prefers being called Honey BadgerJanuary 18, 2012 - Westword Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler is a controversy magnet, with many progressive figures taking his name in vain. Example: a blistering October critique by MSNBC's Rachel Maddow. But today, NPR, a news outfit frequently accused of liberal bias, sent the mega-conservative Gessler an audio love letter in which he's implicitly dubbed a rock star, as well as a honey badger. Hear it below. Read full article (Westword website)Keywords: election, special interest influence, vote suppression WTF is WTP? The checkered history of Colorado's chameleonic advocacy groupJanuary 12, 2012 - The Colorado Springs Independent And, perhaps most impressively, current Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler served as lead attorney in the group's 2009 lawsuit against Longmont's Fair Campaign Practices Act. Although Gessler had hoped to continue "moonlighting" for his old law firm after taking office, American Tradition Partnership's Donald Ferguson says he's no longer representing the group. "We don't need him right now, I guess," Ferguson says with a laugh. Read full article (The Colorado Springs Independent website)Keywords: moonlighting, special interest influence Gessler critics say plan to limit campaign fines helps big-money groupsJanuary 09, 2012 - The Denver Post
Opponents of the rule change say Gessler doesn't have the authority to alter guidelines voters approved as part of a 2002 constitutional amendment. They also question whether Gess ler's motives are as benevolent as he says, or if the Republican is just looking out for the kind of big-money organizations — in particular, groups known as 527s — that the former elections attorney used to represent. Keywords: campaign finance, special interest influence Committee shoots down Gessler campaign rulesDecember 15, 2011 - Pueblo ChieftainThe legislative committee that reviews regulatory rules rejected changes Secretary of State Scott Gessler adopted that reduce the number of campaign-finance reporting periods in the run-up to primary elections. Nonpartisan lawyers from the Office of Legislative Legal Services found Gessler overstepped his authority to enact the rule. “The secretary has effectively created new policy on a very controversial issue affecting the disclosure of campaign and political finance reports in the absence of any direction from the General Assembly,” said Bob Lackner of legal services.Read full article (Pueblo Chieftain website) Media omission: Gessler promised to produce evidence of election “fraud,” but hasn’t delivered anyNovember 21, 2011 - Big Media Blog With no proof of election fraud here in Colorado, he may trot out evidence, Keywords: election, fear mongering, special interest influence, vote suppression Judge Says Gessler's Campaign Finance Changes UnconstitutionalNovember 17, 2011 - Denver Post "The constitutional definition of issue committee is based, in part, on a dollar amount," Jones wrote in his order. " Changing the dollar amount necessarily changes the constitutional definition." Read full article (Denver Post website)Keywords: campaign finance, conflict of interest, special interest influence Gessler won't be dunked, but he'll still raise funds to help GOP with fineSeptember 16, 2011 - Denver Post Secretary of State Scott Gessler won't be in a dunk tank after all, but despite being inundated with criticism, he's still participating in a fundraiser to help pay a fine his office levied against the Larimer County Republican Party. Read full article (Denver Post website)Keywords: conflict of interest, dunk tank, special interest influence Colorado secretary of state will help GOP pay off fine levied by his officeSeptember 10, 2011 - Denver Post Just weeks after reducing a fine against the Larimer County Republican Party, Secretary of State Scott Gessler is helping the party host a fundraiser to pay down the penalty his office ultimately levied. The fundraiser will feature Gessler, a Republican who took office in January, sitting in a dunk tank so that local Republicans angry about the $15,700 fine can throw balls at a target and send him splashing downward. Read full article (Denver Post website)Keywords: conflict of interest, dunk tank, special interest influence Democrats say lawsuit against candidate was 'bogus' from the startOctober 25, 2006 - Rocky Mountain News A Republican attorney filed a campaign finance complaint against a Democratic state House candidate, then blasted her in a mailing paid for by the political attack group he set up. Democrats are crying foul, saying attorney Scott Gessler knew when he filed the complaint against Democrat Jeanne Labuda, of Denver, that it would be dismissed because he had waited too long before making his case. But they said he filed it anyway so he could mention the complaint in the mailing to voters in House District 1. Read full article (Rocky Mountain News website)Keywords: campaign finance, election, lawsuit, special interest influence |
|
SCOTT GESSLER IN THE NEWS |
TWITTER: #GESSLER |
 |
A Project of ProgressNow Colorado |