On January 10th, moderate Republican lieutenant governor candidate Mark Hutchison’s unofficial press secretary, Jon Ralston, blogged that conservative Republican lieutenant governor candidate Sue Lowden was about to file a repayment plan with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) over remaining debt from her 2010 U.S. Senate race.
Shortly after publication of the blog post, Hutch’s unofficial press secretary re-tweeted this tweet from Hutch…
“Sad that it has taken lawsuits, a dozen news stories and a run for another office for Sue Lowden to pay her debts to the small businesses who have been owed for more than three years now.”
Actually, Lowden has won one of the lawsuits against a vendor, and another is still being contested. In addition, she HAD been repaying much of that campaign debt out of personal funds long before she decided to run for lieutenant governor.
But why let facts get in the way of a good political attack, right?
Anyway, after a speech in Reno five days after unofficial Press Secretary Ralston’s blog post, Hutch told Reno Gazette-Journal reporter Ray Hagar that he would no longer make the debt a campaign issue…
“I just think that is something that is between her and the voters and they can evaluate whether she’s doing the right thing or not. She needs to decide if she is going to take personal responsibility for the debts she owes, and if she doesn’t take personal responsibility, the voters will decide if that is important to them in this election.”
Laudable. IF he keeps his word, that is.
Not.
On Thursday, Lowden officially released the debt-payment plan that has been submitted to the FEC. To which Hutch’s campaign released the following statement…
“It has been over three years since Lowden incurred these debts. There have been lawsuits filed, media investigations, and Federal Election Commission inquiries, yet the debt to multiple small businesses will still not be paid in full. Now, based on the paperwork she filed, it seems some may wait an additional three years just to receive a partial payment. Sue has to justify writing a personal check for $100,000 to her new campaign without first settling the debts on the last one. It is hard to understand how she seriously considers the matter a non-issue.”
Wait. Didn’t Hutch tell Hagar that he was no longer going to make the debt a campaign issue and that it would be between Lowden and the voters?
I guess his word on this debt issue is about as good as his word turned out to be on opposing tax hikes and ObamaCare. But since the debt issue seems to be the only issue he can run on – he certainly can’t run on his voting record in a GOP primary! – expect to see his campaign continue to beat this dead horse.
