Republican Governor's Association: A Synopsis of Slime

Given that the Republican Governor's Association is Bob McDonnell's largest contributor by far, I've been looking for information regarding the RGA's well-known illegal and dirty tricks over the past few years. It didn't take long before I stumbled on this.

In January 2007, the Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC) fined the Republican Governors Association (RGA) nearly $27,000 for violating Alaska campaign rules for television ads which constituted electioneering and mailers that were received within 30 days of the election in the 2006 governor's race. The RGA is allowed to accept unlimited contributions but cannot coordinate with a political campaign or candidate. According to the Anchorage Daily News, the RGA claimed the ads were issues-based but contained pictures of the Republican candidate and listed her campaign office phone number as a number to call on the issue. According to Anchorage Daily News, Commissioner Elizabeth Hickerson, of Anchorage, stated of the ad: "I don't see how anyone could watch those ads and pass a red-face test."

This is another good one I found using that crazy thing known as "The Google":

Former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Bell filed a lawsuit against Gov. Rick Perry's 2006 re-election campaign and the Republican Governor's Association today claiming they illegally hid $1 million in donations from Houston homebuilder Bob Perry.

The lawsuit claims the Republican Governor's Association was not legally set up to make donations at the time of the contributions to Perry.

RGA Executive Director Nick Ayers called the lawsuit "political posturing at its best."

Political posturing? Maybe not. In May 2009, a judge "denied efforts by Texans for Rick Perry and the Republican Governors Association to throw out a lawsuit brought against them by Democrat Chris Bell, who ran against Perry for governor in 2006." Ha.

In addition, I found this:

Allies of Sen. John McCain have found new loopholes in the campaign finance law he helped write -- and they're using them to reel in huge contributions to help him compete with Sen. Barack Obama. In one method, a Republican Party fund aimed at electing governors has started marketing itself as a home for contributions of unlimited size to help Sen. McCain. His 2002 campaign law limits donations to presidential races to try to curtail the influence of wealth. The Republican Governors Association isn't subject to those limits, and has long gathered up large donations from individuals and companies. Now it is telling donors it can use their contributions to benefit Sen. McCain in some key battleground states. That makes the group 'the best way to help McCain,' says donor David Hanna, who gave $25,000 -- more than 10 times the legal cap of $2,300 for direct gifts to presidential candidates.

Last but not least, here's a case example that's particularly relevant to us here in Virginia:

Virginia 2005: RGA Criticized by Washington Post for "Misleading" Attack Ad. "A televised attack advertisement, the first of this year's gubernatorial race in Virginia, began airing recently on behalf of the likely Republican candidate, former attorney general Jerry W. Kilgore. The 30-second ad, authorized by Mr. Kilgore, suggests that the Democratic candidate, Lt. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, was responsible for higher taxes when he was a City Council member and mayor of Richmond. The ad is misleading: Mr. Kaine voted twice to cut property tax rates, although homeowners in Richmond, as in many states and localities governed by Democrats and Republicans alike, ended up paying more because of soaring property values. "The irony is that the ad was paid for by the Republican Governors Association, whose own chairman, Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn, actually has raised taxes; in fact, he pushed through the largest tax increase in Nevada's history." [Washington Post, 5/27/05]

Unfortunately, this type of sliminess is most likely what we all have to look forward to this summer and fall here in Virginia. Unless, of course, squeaky clean Bob McDonnell puts a stop to it. Which is about as likely as Eric Cantor actually learning something on his "listening tour."