April 10, 2012 02:27 AM UTC

Is it impossible to see how Gessler is rearranging Colorado's political world?

• 3 Comments
• by: centenman

Next week, SOS Scott Gessler will put in force rules he created that will vastly change how money is accounted for in state politics. That may be why newbie State Senate candidate, David Paladino, running in a district encompassing Centennial, has filed suit with Pro-Choice Colorado, the CO AFL-CIO and others to stop this.

Paladino is challenging state rep David Balmer, who is notorious for raising money (some say more than just “raising”) and he is justifiably concerned that under the new Gessler rules, even more money will flow to the wrong places.

Completely missed in reporting on the issue is that the SOS has determined that local political parties in home rule couties and cities can now send money upstream to the state parties with no reporting requirements whatsoever and the reporting by political committees and other political entities will be loosened to the point that tens of thousands of dollars could flow to candidates and campaigns without public knowledge.

The new rules are

“an insult and a welcome mat to potential corruption” Paladino says,”and will prevent Colorado voters from knowing who is funding political campaigns, a right we all have today. It will bring political spending in Colorado to new lows.”

Here is more from Paladino’s release today:

“Colorado’s constitution has long protected voters and citizens from back-room funding of local candidates and campaigns,” said Paladino, “but now the Secretary of State wants to turn the tables around so that millions of dollars could be potentially funneled into political use without the public knowing about it.

“This ignores our state’s constitutional protections against secret money in politics and it violates every sense that we have that  political money has to be out in the open so we know who is being supported by what interests, and how. Voters deserve to know that.”

The court is being asked to stay rules that Gessler created in March because the Secretary of State overstepped the authority and legal bounds of his office. It also says that the rules are in violation of Colorado’s clearly-defined constitutional requirements for political contributions and spending.

“It’s been a long-time right for voters in our state to know who is backing whom and what,” said Paladino, “and Scott Gessler has no right to change that.”