UPDATE: Former state rep fined for campaign finance ethics violation

Dan Kelley, the former Newton-based representative of Iowa House District 29, was found complicit in the financing of an “attack piece” mailer against a Warren County state legislator during the 2018 election cycle and has since been fined $500 by the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board.

However, Kelley still has the option to appeal the decision.

The board’s summary released last month indicates the letter — marked “paid for by Dan Kelley for State Representative” — expressly advocated in favor of Republican candidate Rebel Snodgrass, who was vying for the Iowa House District 26 seat held by Rep. Scott Ourth.

Michael Marshall, the executive director and legal counsel of the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board, told Newton News that, in general terms, a candidate’s committee is not allowed to accept contributions from or make contributions to another candidate’s committee, including in-kind contributions.

Shortly after the mailer was sent to Warren County voters, the former executive director of the ethics board, Megan Tooker, warned Kelley this was not a permissible campaign expense. If he coordinated the expenditure with the Snodgrass campaign, Tooker said it would constitute an in-kind contribution.

This would be a violation of election law, Newton News previously reported.

Rather than handle the matter through a contested case proceeding process, the ethics and campaign disclosure board elected for an administrative resolution. The board ordered Kelley to pay the $500 civil penalty for including a false attribution statement on a campaign mailer, a violation of state code.

Kelley responds to board’s decision

From 2011 to 2016, Kelley represented Iowa House District 29, which includes his hometown of Newton and much of western Jasper County. He has not held or run for public office since then. Once a Democrat, Kelley later filed as a third party — dubbed the Stand Up To Bullies party — to retain his seat.

However, the then-incumbent lost his seat to Democratic candidate Wes Breckenridge, who had also won out against Kelley in the 2016 Democratic primary. For the past few years, Kelley has been a registered Republican. In a statement, the former legislator criticized the politics of the board decision.

“This has been a partisan witch hunt from Day One,” Kelley said. “It’s not an accident they dragged it into the next election. I hope for a fair appeals process. Wes Breckenridge and Democrat party bosses who control him are trying to silence me.

“They are so concerned about Wes losing a highly competitive race, they’re even attacking his old opponents. I spoke the truth. I followed the rules. I encourage voters to stand with me against bully tactics and corruption on Election Day and vote Wes out.”

Breckenridge responded in a statement, “The Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board is an independent board that oversees all campaigns in the state of Iowa. It is my understanding the violation he was convicted of happened in another district and has nothing to do with me or my district.

“I’m going to keep listening and working together to do what’s best for Jasper County.”

Background of the letter

According to board documents, the unsigned letter — whose return address was the same as Kelley’s home address — was sent to “every mail box” in Iowa House District 26 and was “very critical” of Ourth, the incumbent. Kelley ended the letter by saying, “I urge you to vote for the Republican in this race.”

In 2010, Kelley registered the Dan Kelley for State Representative committee prior to his first election to represent Iowa House District 29. Even after losing his re-election bid, Kelley’s committee remained open. A disclosure report filed Jan. 12, 2018, indicated the committee had a negative cash-on-hand balance.

Since the end of 2016, the committee had not have any money in it and the negative balance was the result of an accounting error that still needed to be fixed, Kelley told the board. In October 2018, board staff inquired about Kelley’s letter. Kelley said he wrote it and sent it on his own.

Later, Kelley, through an attorney, provided a written statement saying he received a contribution from a friend to send the letter, which he said would be disclosed in the January 2019 report. Kelley’s committee continued to show a negative balance and reported two in-kind contributions.

Both in-kind contributions — $1,330 on Oct. 12, 2018, and $900 on Oct. 15, 2018 — were from Spirit of 76 Consulting, LLC. The disclosure report said the contributions were for “postage, shipping and delivery” and included the explanation: “Boost candidate through party support mailing.”

Spirit of 76, which is described in board documents as a “low-cost printing business for campaigns and businesses,” is co-owned by Barry Snell, John Thompson and Snodgrass, the Republican candidate for Iowa House District 26. The business does not have a storefront or advertise its services.

Snodgrass told the board he invested in the company to help conservative candidates print campaign materials at lower costs and also help his own business lower printing costs.

Others involved have contradicting stories

In August 2019, the board spoke with Kelley again. He told them the in-kind contributions were for the letter he sent to District 26 residents. Kelley said Thompson wrote the letter with Kelley’s approval and also took care of the printing and mailing of the letter.

Kelley said he had no discussions with Snodgrass about the letter other than to tell him after the fact he hoped it would be helpful. Kelley told the board he had no idea if Snodgrass saw the letter in advance.

Thompson was also questioned by the board in its investigation. He said he helped Snodgrass — whom Thompson identified as a friend — on his campaign but was not paid for his services. Thompson, however, said Kelley wrote the letter, and that he edited it and added the graphics.

Thompson used Spirit of 76 resources to print the letter and had called Snodgrass to tell him he was doing an “attack piece,” board documents said.

Peyton Parker, a paid campaign staffer for Snodgrass, was seen at two post offices in District 26 mailing mass copies of the letter, the board said. When questioned, Parker acknowledged his involvement in the letter. Park said Thompson had the idea to do a “hit piece” on Ourth.

Thompson and Parker talked about the letter sometime around Oct. 8, 2018, board documents said. But Parker said Thompson had written the letter and printed copies in the Spirit of 76 warehouse. Parker picked up the copies of the letter on Oct. 12, 2018, from the warehouse.

Parker then took the letters to Snodgrass’ office to sort and prepare for “every door direct mail.” He also said Snodgrass had given him $2,400 cash for postage of the letter. But after the board questioned Snell, he said it was Thompson who printed, sorted and bundled the mailer.

Leading up to the “October surprise”

When Thompson told Snodgrass about the “attack piece” mailer, he mentioned Parker should not be the one dropping it off at the post office. Thompson said he would contact someone else to deliver the letter bundles, concerned someone would recognize Parker from the campaign.

The board was told by Thompson that he did not know why Parker ended up delivering the letter the post office. Thompson later told the board he directed Spirit of 76 to use cash but refused to say who he talked to regarding the cash. Both Thompson and Snell believe Spirit of 76 paid for the postage.

But the two declined to provide any evidence to this assertion.

Once the board spoke with Snodgrass, he said Parker worked for his campaign from June 10, 2018, until his resignation shortly after the letter was mailed. Snodgrass confirmed Thompson was a paid staffer and worked with him during the 2016 and 2018 election cycles.

Snodgrass said it was Thompson who “largely directed” Parker on what to do for the campaign, rather than himself. Snodgrass also denied knowing anything about the Kelley letter until after it was mailed, but acknowledged he knew staffers were going to do an “October surprise.”

However, Snodgrass thought it would be on a different subject mater.

Snodgrass does not deny paying Parker for his services related to ending the Kelley letter to District 26 residents, board documents said.

The board’s decision

According to Iowa Code, it is required that a “paid for by” attribution statement be attached on any published material, including direct mailing, that is designed to expressly advocate the nomination, election or defeat of a candidate for public office.”

Board documents say the attribution statement must disclose who is responsible for the published material.

There is “no question” that Kelley’s letter to District 26 residents expressly advocated for the defeat of Snodgrass’ opponent and that it stated it was paid for by “Dan Kelley for State Representative,” board documents said. However, this committee did not have any money and did not pay for this mailing piece.

Nor was Kelley the letter’s principal author, the board said.

Further investigation from the board determined it was a Snodgrass campaign mailer and was primarily written by Thompson (a Snodgrass volunteer in charge of campaign messaging) in coordination with Parker (a paid campaign staffer) and Kelley (the former representative).

The board found the letter was delivered to the post office by Parker and was paid for in cash delivered by Snodgrass.

Kelley’s statement that he had sent the mailer on his own was found not credible by the board, which believes the former legislator conspired to use his committee name to evade campaign finance reporting so the Snodgrass campaign could launch an attack piece on Ourth without taking responsibility for it.

The board said the letter should have indicated it was paid for by Snodgrass or his campaign committee. Kelley’s agreement to the false use of his committee’s name violated Iowa Code, documents said. The board’s investigation showed a “concerted scheme” to hide Snodgrass’ involvement.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com