Republican House Leader Jim Townsend along with other party House leaders came to Rep. Rebecca Dow's (pictured) defense against an ethics complaint he deemed unfounded. | Facebook
Republican House Leader Jim Townsend along with other party House leaders came to Rep. Rebecca Dow's (pictured) defense against an ethics complaint he deemed unfounded. | Facebook
In response to an eleventh-hour ethics complaint, House Republican Leadership recently asked the State Ethics Commission (SEC) to dismiss it as clearly politically motivated.
Democratic challenger to Rep. Rebecca Dow (R), Karen Whitlock, filed an ethics complaint within 60 days of the general election. The State Ethics Commission, a recently formed institution, is allowed to throw out claims within this window, according to state law.
In a petition to the SEC publicized in a press release from House GOP, Republican Reps. Jim Townsend, Rod Montoya and Candy Ezzell pointed out that the purpose of this law is to prevent baseless undermining of incumbents with no time left to defend themselves. They also provided evidence to prove Whitlock's claims as false.
“Karen might be OK with brushing off the tinge of political malfeasance in her complaint, but I am certain that the Ethics Commission will see through these absurd claims coming from someone who has not stopped running for office since she lost in 2016,” Townsend said, according to a press release.
Republican House Leadership also expressed concern that, if not dismissed, claims such as this one could taint the public’s trust of the SEC.
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