This just in from the Sho Dozono campaign:

Dozono notified the Secretary of State’s Elections Division today that his campaign would amend state campaign finance reports to account for the receipt of polling information, prior to his becoming a candidate in the Portland public campaign financing system.

[Campaign Manager Amie] Abbott said, “After several discussions with both the City Auditor and the State Elections Division, Sho determined that the most transparent action was to report the poll as a contribution to the campaign committee. Sho also decided to pay for the poll himself, even though he received this poll information prior to the time he had decided to qualify as a publicly financed candidate. He felt that was the best way to ensure the campaign remains as free of politics as possible. Our campaign experienced some confusion because of the different interpretations between the state and city laws, but hopefully this has opened up a valuable discussion for other political novices considering entering public service.”

The Dozono campaign also reports that the city counted “3,763 valid qualifying contributions” toward public financing, and in the letter outlining Dozono’s initial certification, elections officer Andrew Carlstrom reiterated the auditor’s interpretation of whether or not the poll should count against the $12,000 in-kind contribution cap.

“Since there was no overt, objective action establishing that your name was or was expected to be on the official ballot as a candidate defined in City Code Section 2.10.010 D on the date you received the poll results, your receipt of an in-kind contribution (poll results) prior to your becoming a candidate has not counted against the $12,000 contribution limit…”

“Portland began financing campaigns for City offices in order to open elections to individuals who otherwise would not run. It was not intended to create unreasonable hurdles for those individuals who never ran for office before and want to carefully consider the possibilities and difficulties of becoming a candidate. Individuals should have the opportunity to explore the possibility of becoming a candidate before being
considered in the public campaign financing system.”

I wonder if this will put the issue behind Dozono. I still disagree with the auditor’s interpretation that the poll doesn’t violate the in-kind cap (my read is that the cap is a cap, period, regardless of when you joined the public financing program), and Dozono’s paying for the poll himself reads to me like an attempt to remove the in-kind question all together.

Except that Dozono recorded it as an in-kind, from himself to his campaign, to the tune of $27,295.00. But barring a complaint that forces some sort of a hearing at the city level, it’s looking like the in-kind cap question is closed.

There are two new issues, though, thanks to this turn of events. One, Dozono recorded the poll in-kind as December 21—or 19 days before the campaign committee was registered on January 9. State election law says committees have to be formed within three days of accepting a contribution, though. State law also says contributions have to be recorded within 30 days of receipt—which puts this amended report at 27 days late. Dozono could be fined for either or both issues, though reporting fines aren’t all that unusual for political campaigns.