Ban political activity in the secretary of state’s office?
Instead of pursuing impeachment against Secretary of State Jason Gant, Gant’s nemesis Sen. Stan Adelstein is bringing several bills aimed at reforming the secretary of state’s office.
I’ll give each one a separate post.
First, Adelstein has a bill preventing the secretary of state, or any employees working with elections, from endorsing, assisting or advising any “candidate for election to congressional, state or legislative office.”
That’s a response to two things in the past year:
- Gant’s endorsement of Rep. Val Rausch in his Senate primary
- Gant’s director of operations Pat Powers maintaining a side business selling campaign merchandise to candidates
Depending on how one classified Powers’ involvement in elections at the time, this could make both activities illegal going forward if it passes. (It may not — Sen. Russell Olson, at least, was skeptical of Adelstein’s bill.)
Here’s the text of the bill draft:
An act to prohibit certain political activity within the Office of the Secretary of State
