In the latest salvo of the highly charged District 16 congressional race, a pro-democracy and voting rights group is accusing Assemblymember Evan Low of violating federal law by using funds from his state campaign account to support his congressional bid.
Defend the Vote has filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission against Low, asking the oversight body to investigate the candidate and his campaign after his state office account — Evan Low for Assembly 2024 — filed a report with the FEC last week noting that it spent roughly $35,000 on advertisements distributed widely across Congressional District 16. Low is running against former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo in an increasingly tense race to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo. Defend the Vote has endorsed Liccardo.
Low’s expenditures include an ad buy with Sing Tao Chinese Radio, which airs on two different stations broadcast across the Bay Area. Sing Tao also aired a video on its YouTube channel that Defend the Vote called in its complaint “in substance, a campaign ad.” The video has since been listed as private on the channel.
In the video, which was reviewed by this news organization, the assemblymember touts his accomplishments in the state legislature and ends by saying, “Thank you District 26 for fighting with me, let’s keep California moving forward.” The ad has a disclaimer on it that it’s paid for by Low’s state office account.
“Evan Low is clearly running a campaign ad for Congress with funds from his state campaign committee. You simply can’t do that,” Defend the Vote Executive Director Brian Lemek said in a statement. “It’s plain as day that this is a campaign ad, and despite efforts to hide some of the illegal funds, the paper trail is a mile long.”
In a statement, Low’s deputy campaign manager, Lam Nguyen, accused Liccardo’s camp of creating a diversion.
“Sam Liccardo’s campaign has once again put his endorser up to file false and meritless complaints to distract from Sam’s own ethical failings — his involvement in the Duong corruption scandal, his public safety failures and his attacks on first responders,” Nguyen said. “Voters should heed the warnings of local firefighters and police officers — you can’t trust Sam.”
Nguyen’s reference to the Duong corruption scandal relates to recent raids by the FBI on Andy Duong and his father David Duong, who is the CEO of California Waste Solutions, and Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao. The Duongs are major donors to Bay Area politicians — including Low, who donated a recent contribution from David Duong to Ayudando Latinos A Soñar, a Half Moon Bay-based nonprofit. In 2021, California Waste Solutions also donated $10,000 to a political action committee that was started by Liccardo. There’s no indication that the former mayor is being investigated in relation to the Duong’s corruption scandal.
According to the complaint, the electioneering communication report Low’s state office account filed with the FEC “makes it clear that the communications were not limited in distribution to constituents in the 26th Assembly District, but was distributed broadly across …read more
Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
