Republicans file complaint against Nelson, Dems

The Nebraska Republican Party has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson and the Nebraska Democratic State Central Committee alleging illegal spending practices between the two organizations.

U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson

The Federal Election Act of 1971 says the maximum coordinated spending limit between a political party committee and a Nebraska Senate candidate cannot exceed $240,600. However, according to public records, the NDSCC and Nelson have spent at least $458,625 in coordinated television campaign advertisements.

Federal law also states that communications paid for by a political party must be clearly disclaimed; yet Senator Nelson’s campaign ad omitted the word “Democratic” from its disclaimer in an attempt to mask the ad and the source of funding, Republicans say.

“In an attempt to cover-up his failed Washington record – which includes providing the 60th vote for ObamaCare and his critical support for the $825 billion stimulus – the NDSCC and Ben Nelson have engaged in a coordinated campaign that has surpassed the legal federal limit by at least $218,000,” said Nebraska Republican Party Chairman Mark Fahleson.

Despite all being paid for by the NDSCC, Senator Nelson’s four recent campaign ads identify three different sponsors: “Promise” and “Wrong Way” state that they are paid for by the “Nebraska Democratic Party.” “Skunk” states that it is paid for by the “Nebraska Democratic State Central Committee.”

The GOP claims the most egregious case is the “Nelson Ad” – backed by a $219,422 NDSCC media buy funded by the Democrats’ national campaign committee — which says it was paid for by the “Nebraska State Central Committee” – a name that wholly omits “Democrat” from the identification and masks the ad as being sponsored by a non-partisan, or even state-funded, entity.

“Nebraskans deserve to know the exact amount of illegal spending that has occurred by the NDSCC – and that Washington dollars paid for it – and why Ben Nelson is an active participant in this blatantly illegal act,” Fahleson said in a press release.

However, a spokesman for the state Democratic Party said the claim is without merit and he expects it to be dismissed.

“We’ve run issue ads like this in prior campaigns, and because they are issue ads, they are not subject to spending limits,” Brandon Lorenz said. “Protecting programs like Medicare is an issue we will continue to talk about because it’s a program thousands of Nebraskans depend upon.”

Read the full Complaint against Nelson here.