Colorado Republican Secretary of State Scott Gessler's time in office has been, by any objective yardstick, an unqualified disaster. In only three years, Gessler has stepped into more controversy, scandalous partisan double-dealing, and outright malfeasance than any statewide Colorado officeholder in recent memory. As Colorado's chief elections officer, Gessler has come to practically embody partisan bad faith, and gaming of the system to favor his own.
But instead of getting ready to slink back to his GOP electioneering law firm at the conclusion of a term in office that made an absolute mockery of good government, Scott Gessler is now running for governor–as we first reported he would over a year ago. The story behind Gessler's unlikely "failure upward" is worth summarizing again for the record.
From the very start, Gessler made it clear that he would push the limits of the rules. Immediately after taking office in 2011, Gessler declared his intention to continue "moonlighting" for his old law firm specializing in election law, the Hackstaff Group (formerly Hackstaff Gessler). Gessler abandoned that plan after receiving an undisclosed opinion on the propriety of such an arrangement from fellow Republican Attorney General John Suthers. Gessler's office then launched headlong into a massive campaign to ferret out what he originally insisted was "thousands" of noncitizens illegally voting in Colorado elections. Three years later, that claim has fallen completely flat, with only four indictments by a friendly DA, and no evidence whatsoever of the wide-scale fraud Gessler insisted was already taking place. Meanwhile, his office lost hundreds of real, legal voter registrations after a mobile voter registration site mysteriously failed in the midst of a union-sponsored voter registration campaign.
Gessler has long claimed that Colorado campaign finance law is "too strict." In practice, that has led to a dramatic weakening of enforcement of campaign finance disclosure laws, and eye-popping moments of unacceptable partisan favoritism. After the Larimer County GOP chairman was busted for embezzling party funds and failing to file proper disclosures of party finances, Gessler slashed the fines owed by the county party from $50,000 to $16,000, then held a fundraiser for Larimer County Republicans to help raise the balance. Gessler's original plan to appear in a dunk tank to raise money for the Larimer County GOP was cancelled after basically every editorial board in the state freaked out about the impropriety.
In 2012, Gessler spent discretionary funds from his office account to attend numerous partisan events, including a partisan vote suppression "watchdog" event in Washington DC hosted by True the Vote, and the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida. Gessler attempted to cover for the trip to the RNC by claiming an event immediately prior to the convention, the Republican National Lawyers Association's conference, was a permissibly "nonpartisan" use of the funds. The Colorado Independent Ethics Commission rejected Gessler's arguments, and ruled that Gessler had "violated the public trust for private gain." Gessler was assessed the maximum fine allowable for this infraction, which he is now appealing in court.
In 2013, Gessler's conduct as secretary of state has been no less dubious. Gessler led the opposition to this year's successful voting modernization law, House Bill 1303, which had the support of the vast majority of county clerks in the state from both parties. During litigation pertaining to the recall elections held this summer, Gessler's office at first stood with Democrats to protect the delivery of mail ballots to voters–but then abandoned them before an appeal was filed to the district judge's decision. Gessler then attempted to blame House Bill 1303 for the conflict in the law that prevented the delivery of mail ballots, even though that was false–at issue was a 1912 constitutional provision in conflict with a statute on the books prior to this year. Most objective analysis agrees that the halting of mail ballot delivery can entirely account for the 300-vote margin of defeat for ex-Senate President John Morse in the Senate District 11 recall election.
There is more to the story of Gessler's role in the pre-recall litigation that hasn't yet been reported, but may well come out if Gessler's gubernatorial campaign gains traction. We've heard rumors of a longstanding close relationship between Gessler and eccentric former Aspen mayoral candidate Marilyn Marks, a major player in the lawsuit that halted mail ballots in the recall, that has not been disclosed to the public.
For all of the tawdry spectacle and open disdain for the rules displayed by Gessler during his time in office, for which he richly earned the nickname "Honey Badger," he remains popular among an influential class of insider Republicans–who have no ethical compunction about anything Gessler has done, and fully support the guiding philosophical declaration of conservative icon Paul Weyrich: "I don't want everybody to vote." With that said, we have always been clear in our view that the available campaign material against Gessler makes him unelectable to higher office. The kinds of ads that can be made from Gessler's record as Secretary of State, highlighting rank partisanship, naked vote suppression, incompetence, and the ethics commissions' finding of misuse of state funds, are just not survivable by any political candidate. At the very least, it will require a risky counter investment that is difficult to justify. It's possible there is some understanding of that among rank-and-file Republicans, which could help explain why Gessler is way behind primary opponent Tom Tancredo in early polls.
In the end, the last person to realize Gessler's toxicity may be the "Honey Badger" himself.
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Ha! I would have thought the nickname "Honey Bucket" would have been more appropriate for Gessler.
Good summary, Pols. I halfway want Gessler to win the Republican primary, or whatever the process is, because I want to see the political ads against him.
The Quinnipiac poll still shows Hick winning over Gessler, but by a 45-40 margin.
What his campaign will do, should he get the nomination, is emphasize the gains voters made: Gessler's own report claimed that Colorado had the 3rd highest rate of voting in the nation in 2012, and the awards his office won for having a user-friendly website.
The 2012 high voter turnout claim may be dubious, according to Michael Mcdonald, Director of the United States Election Project. According to McDonald's data, Colorado's real voter turnout in 2012 actually decreased in 2012 from 2008.
But look for Gessler to tout his "successes", anyway, to counter the charges of voter suppression.
Be careful what you wish for. Gessler is a hero among the hard-core base. He is also a pretty good litigator and quite capable of coming across as "normal" to a lot of folks. Me, I'm gonna declare Republican and vote for Tanc. No way he comes across as normal to anyone.
No doubt, Gessler's moral compass (and that of his money men) is pointing straight at Hell.
I just might have to join you Ralphie and switch my registration too. There aren't any interesting Dem primaries in my district, so might as well play GOP roulette with theirs.
None in mine either. This could start a movement.
"They" really have no choice but to go "all in" and now in 2016, in the final tactical retreats to "hold the line" against the inevitable tide of fundemental demographic electorate change. The old GOP and the new Tea Party are merely reactionaries to a huge change of what will constitute the new predominate electoral majorities, composed of minority-majority coalitions instead of the old guard white-male. All efforts are to contract the denominator instead of expand it, for it is a losing proposition and what constituted the electorate change in 1930's and 1830's. They know this.
But these rear guard power efforts historically fail because they don't serve the common good. What their underlying message will be:
Prejudice against "urban centric ism, (gun rights, same sex marriage, marijuana, Latino/Black and mixed race urbanism, single mothers, college educated masses, atheism, CHANGE)
That is what they have left in their quiver, broken arrows, just like on the Fed level they had shutdowns and obstruction. Go for it. please
Gessler will lose and in several years run for AG. Also possible, an SC appt when there is a R guv
That's a scary thought, Gray!
Maybe it's too much holiday cheer but I'm drawing a blank on SC. Hint?
supreme court?
There you go. Scary indeed.
I think this is a huge (and hugely overlooked) story.
It also perfectly exemplifies why Scottiy's only available options are to either win elected office, or return to the private practice of representing Republican election scofflaws. Even the most whack-a-doodle rightie isn't going to want to put himself on the hook, responsibility-wise, for appointing ScottyG to any position where a budget is involved.
Wrong, Dio. The whackadoodles are quite happy that Scotty has apparently devoted his life to keeping Mexicans from voting. Excited, even.
Yeah, maybe . . .
. . . still, I really love my brother — but knowing him pretty much guarantees I'm never giving him the PINs to any of my bank accounts.
But you have a lot more sense than a piece of toast so I wouldn't project your decision making process too much to the wackadoodles.
Agree with Ralphie. The wackadoodles budgetary concerns are pretty much confined to spending on stuff they don't like.
"…devoted his life to keeping Mexicans from voting."
That's a gross overstatement. Based on his actions, it was pretty clear he didn't want black voters voting either.
Prediction: Gessler's IEC fine will be thrown out in court. Your kangaroo konviction comes to naught. I think Gov. Honey Badger would be great for Colorado.
Which is the clearest explanation for why your opinions are, and will remain, in the distinct minority in this state.