A liberal advocacy group claims Republican Paul Ryan may be using his Congressional campaign to promote his run for vice president.
Despite his spot on the national ticket, Congressman Paul Ryan is still trying to retain his seat in Wisconsin’s First Congressional District. While Ryan has largely focused on his spot on the national ticket, he has been running campaign ads for his seat in the U.S. House of Representative. One Wisconsin Now executive director Scot Ross is questioning whether those TV ads violate federal campaign finance laws.
Ross says Ryan’s spending on the race is significantly higher than past elections, especially in a race where the Congressman has claimed he is 25 points ahead. Ross says Ryan has spent nearly $2 million on TV advertising, which is almost double what he spent in 2008 and more than the $20,000 he spent with a media firm in 2010.
Ross argues it’s a clear sign Ryan is using resources from his Congressional campaign to help promote the GOP presidential ticket, noting that many of Ryan’s ads do very little to actually indicate he is running for reelection to Congress. While Ryan never says he is a candidate for the U.S. House in his ads, images on screen do mention that fact. Still, Ross says many of the talking points in the ads reflect those of the Romney campaign.
OWN has filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission arguing Ryan is violating a law against using the resources of one campaign to help another. Ross says they want the FEC to investigate further.
Ryan’s Congressional campaign says they are “well aware of what the law requires and have followed it.”
AUDIO: Andrew Beckett reports (1:16)