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FEC rules in favor of Darrow
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by Ryan Masse
Friday, September 10, 2004
The Federal Elections Commission issued a draft opinion to the Russ Darrow Group Thursday stating that radio and television advertisements currently being run by the auto dealership company may continue to be broadcasted.
The company had inquired into whether ads featuring the name of company founder Russ Darrow, who is running for the U.S. Senate this year, would violate a provision in the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law. Under the law, corporations are prohibited from running ads featuring the name of a candidate seeking federal office within 30 days of a primary and 60 days of a general election.
To determine whether the law would apply in their situation, the company requested a ruling from the FEC on July 21 asking the commission to issue a decision within 20 days. In legal limbo for months, the company decided to keep ads on the air until the decision was issued.
Although the FEC took considerably longer to deliver an opinion than had been requested, Darrow campaign spokesman Eric Schutt said they were happy with the draft.
“It’s a victory for common sense, and the fact it had to be sought after shows how ludicrous Russ Feingold’s campaign finance reform was, that a business that had been advertising for 38 years had to take these steps,” Schutt said.
Darrow is one of four hopefuls vying for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in next Tuesday’s primary, along with businessman Tim Michels, state Sen. Bob Welch, R-Redgranite, and attorney Robert Lorge. The winner will square off against incumbent Democrat Feingold in the general election.
Like Darrow, Michels owns a business bearing his namesake, the Michels Corporation. As a construction company, his advertising does not rely on television and radio, campaign spokesman Tim Roby said.
Roby referred to Darrow’s situation as “unique across the country.”
In its ruling the FEC noted that the public face of the company is no longer Darrow, but his son, Russ Darrow III, who has appeared on the company’s advertisements since the late 1980s. Darrow III also now oversees the day-to-day operations of the business, which operates 20 auto dealerships throughout the state.
In addition, the FEC considered the nature of the ads run by the company, finding the use of the Darrow name refers to the business entity as opposed to the Senate candidate. The FEC decided Darrow was used as a brand name and found most ads only mention the name of the company’s individual dealerships, such as Russ Darrow Kia, and not the person.
Despite being approved by the FEC, Lorge feels the advertisements might cause Darrow more trouble than they’re worth, both legally and strategically.
“I told Darrow, who I consider an honorable man, to be very careful because he better look at the state laws or he might blunder into something,” Lorge said, cautioning Darrow to ensure the advertisements are legal under Wisconsin campaign laws as well as the McCain-Feingold Act. “[The Russ Darrow Group] should be careful before increasing their ads to help their namesake because I think people want them to follow not just the letter of the law, but the spirit of the law too.”
Anonymous (September 10, 2004 @ 1:35pm):
Has anybody actually seen this guy on the debates? He might be the worst candidate to ever run for senate anywhere. It is not even possible to see him and the other republicans speak and still vote for him, he is that bad.
