Is Kevin Mannix planning a campaign money scam?

Kari Chisholm

Over at PolitickerOR, they're reporting that four-time statewide loser Kevin Mannix has decided to definitely, absolutely, run for... something.

He's not sure what, though. Not yet.

Kevin Mannix says he was faced with two options prior to U.S. Rep. Darlene Hooley’s announcement that she would not be seeking re-election: to do nothing or to run for Attorney General. ...

"With Hooley’s announcement, because of my situation in the district, it became a whole new possibility,” Mannix said of running for Congress.

“I will say I’ve pretty much dropped the option of doing nothing.”

But, of course, Kevin is the chief petitioner of a bunch of ballot measures - most prominently, a minimum-sentencing law that would expand Measure 11 to nonviolent crimes, jacking up our prison budgets, and further bankrupting our state.

It's long been expected that should he decide to run for Attorney General, he'd use the initiative as the core theme of his campaign - using each campaign to leverage support for the other. And while that has some interesting effects from a communications and strategy standpoint, there was no strong financial advantage other than some minor cost efficiencies.

But now that he's running for Congress, he's hinting at playing a much more dangerous game. One that might land him in serious trouble under federal law.

You see, in federal races, there are pretty strict limits for a guy who is used to raising money in six-figure chunks from sex weirdos named Loren Parks. Each donor can contribute a maximum of $2300 in the primary election, and $2300 in the general election.

Mannix likely has a decent list of small under-$100 donors, but not enough to fuel a congressional campaign.

So, what's a guy like Kevin to do? Read between the lines here:

Mannix, however, is not worried about the effects of spending limits on his initiative, noting that there is always a PAC that will take on campaigning and fundraising for the measure. But don’t count on financial limitations to dampen his support.

“Certainly as a chief petitioner, I would exercise my First Amendment rights to offer my opinion,” he continued.

Now, I'm no election lawyer. But as I understand it, a federal candidate can't raise money for a state campaign committee. But it's unclear whether that state campaign committee could use a federal candidate as the chief spokesman for a ballot measure.

Could Kevin Mannix be planning to run for Congress - while using a well-funded no-limits ballot measure committee to pay for the bulk of his television time?

If so, he'd be making a mockery of the nation's campaign finance laws -- and would likely face investigation, prosecution, and fines. Unfortunately for all of us, the FEC is notorious for getting deadlocked in their judgments and taking years and years to issue rulings.

Will the media be a watchdog on this? I'm hopeful, but not holding my breath. After all, it's the media - especially the television media - that profits most when campaigns are spending big money.

This just points to one critical thing. We Democrats absolutely need to be committed to funding whichever Democrat(s) get into this campaign. Early, often, and big.

Why not start right away? Donate now to the Democratic Nominee Fund for the 5th District. The money will be held in escrow by ActBlue until the primary is over.

[Full disclosure: My firm built the website for Greg Macpherson for Attorney General. I speak here only for myself.]

By Kari Chisholm Feb. 19, 2008