SALT LAKE CITY – On the eve of the Utah primary election, contender Karianne Lisonbee has renewed her accusations against U.S. Rep. Blake Moore for using taxpayer funds to promote his candidacy.
“This is just another example of the District of Columbia corruption that Utahns have grown tired of,” the state lawmaker from Clearfield charged.
“Taxpayer money should not under any circumstances be used to benefit the reelection campaign of any member of Congress,” she added.
Over the past weekend, members of the Lisonbee campaign reportedly got an earful of numerous complaints from Utahns about receiving taxpayer-funded texts and mailers promoting Moore sent from his official office.
Title 39 U.S.C. Section 3210 (a)(6)(A) – also known as the blackout rules –provides that a member of Congress may not send mass communications during the 60 days immediately preceding the date of any election (primary, general, special or runoff) in which he or she is a candidate for election or re-election to any public office.
But the Moore campaign has apparently found a loophole that allows the sending of unsolicited, taxpayer-funded text messages and mailers to his constituents.
“These communications were sent out in batches of 499 or less,” according to a spokesperson for the Moore campaign. “That puts them below the threshold of ‘mass communication’ and therefore makes them exempt from blackout rules.”
Lisonbee argued that loophole is being used to blur the lines between what is legal and illegal, allowing Moore’s campaign to justify using tax dollars to fund his reelection.
Here at Cache Valley Daily, we’ve received a virtual blizzard of information from both primary campaigns.
Recent mailers endorsing Moore have been funded by “Blake Moore for Congress.” Mail promoting Lisonbee came from the challenger’s campaign and also the Utah Republican Party, Friends of Karianne Lisonbee and the Defending Conservative Values Political Action Committee.
But the origins of texts and e-mails from various candidates are harder to track.
Moore is locked in a truly competitive primary race for the first time since being sent to Congress in 2020.
Lisonbee emerged as the clear winner in the race for the Utah’s District 2 seat in Congress at the State Nominating Convention on April 27, blowing past the incumbent by a nearly 30-point margin.
Lisonbee earned 62 percent of the delegates’ votes at the GOP gathering at the Utah Community Credit Union Center in Orem, compared to 34 percent for Moore.
The challenger says that Moore used taxpayer- funded billboards, radio ads, mailers and digital ads to promote himself during the lead-up to the April GOP convention.
“Republican delegates saw right through (that advertising)” Lisonbee says and expects that primary voters will see through this latest official misuse of taxpayer funds as well.
“One of my first acts when elected to Congress will be to run a bill outlawing this practice of using taxpayer dollars to promote members of Congress,” Lisonbee promises.
“Members of Congress can easily use social media and e-mail to update constituents about their accomplishment without having to spend taxpayer dollars on printing and postage,” she emphasizes.