FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 25, 2004

Judge finds probable cause that attack mail

against Representative Otto

Violated Minnesota Statutes

SAINT PAUL – An Office of Administrative Hearing judge today ruled that there is probable cause that a negative campaign piece attacking Representative Rebecca Otto was illegal.

Judge Kathleen D Sheehy, an administrative law judge with the Office of Administrative Hearings, issued the October 25th ruling that the piece, mailed by the House Republican Campaign Committee, or HRCC, likely violates Minnesota’s new campaign ethics law, and set an evidentiary hearing before a three-judge panel.

The complaint, filed by a Birchwood resident, alleges that the HRCC piece falsely attributed quotes to Rep Rebecca Otto that she never said, and took other quotes said by her husband grossly out of context, to the point that the meaning was completely changed. 

Rep Rebecca Otto in fact never said any of the statements in the piece, a point the HRCC acknowledged in the hearing. 

And the quotes used by the HRCC were altered.  Shawn Otto's real quotes were reporting from interviews with suburban voters, from notes for a class he taught.  The Judge's ruling said they simply "described the negative perceptions a typical suburban voter might have of [both] the DFL and Republican parties.  One of his themes was that the DFL could increase its appeal to moderate, Republican-leaning voters in suburban areas by redefining issues and avoiding extreme positions."  
 

In response to the complaint, the Judge's order states, the HRCC argued that the fair campaign practices law "prohibits only false statements, that misleading or confusing statements do not violate the statute".

Rebecca Otto, while not commenting specifically on the case, said simply that she didn’t approve of outside groups mailing attack literature into a district. “The groups bear little accountability and the only aim is cynical – to depress support for one or another person. I object to that no matter who sends the piece. Unlike my opponent and his supporters, my campaign has not issued any negative literature, nor will we. These attacks are a disservice to voters, and they get us away from the main issues facing our state, which are the fourth straight budget deficit, our healthcare and transportation crises, and further cuts to education.”