On Monday morning Rep. Dan McCay and a phalanx of Republican lawmakers held a press conference at the Utah State Capitol to demand Democrat Ben McAdams pull television ads they say are deceptive about his tax record.
The criticism of McAdams follows the unprecedented move by the Utah Taxpayers Association to issue a “fact check” about McAdams’ claims about his record on property taxes. McAdams claims he lowered Salt Lake County’s tax rate every year he has served as Salt Lake County’s mayor. Attendees at the press conference were also critical of McAdams’ claim on taxes, questioning his honesty on the topic.
However, organizers of the press conference did not disclose that they had organized the hit on McAdams, at least in part, with Republican Mia Love’s campaign.
On Sunday, Rep. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, sent out a press release ahead of Monday’s press conference. In the email was a link to an online version of that document. When opened, DropBox lists the author as Sasha Clark, the spokesperson for Mia Love’s campaign.
Clark is also listed as the author on a PDF copy of the letter calling on McAdams to pull down the campaign ad that was distributed to several Republican lawmakers over the weekend. Seegmiller is Clark’s maiden name.
The email asking Republican legislators to join the criticism of McAdams, and appear at Monday’s press conference, was sent by Mia Love’s field director, Amelia Powers from her campaign email account.
Initially, McCay denied any involvement by the Love campaign when asked by UtahPolicy.com following Monday’s press conference. But, that assertion was refuted by Clark when reached by telephone for comment.
“Rep. McCay reached out to us on this issue,” she said. “He was upset about Ben’s lying on his tax record, so we worked together with him on this.”
Clark confirmed that she helped author the press release and letter.
McCay later clarified he was confused when asked if he “coordinated” with the Love campaign. He explained that he used to work for a political action committee, and Federal Election Commission rules forbid coordination between PACs and campaigns.
“When I heard ‘coordinate,’ as a former PAC employee, my mind went there,” he said via text message. “Working in the law has some benefits. Unfortunately, double meaning of words is not one of them.”
The previously undisclosed involvement of the Love campaign in Monday’s event does take some of the impact out of the criticism of McAdams.
During Monday’s presser, Sen. Lincoln Filmore, R-South Jordan, hit McAdams for what he called the “latest in a pattern” for him.
“He takes credit for things when it’s convenient, and pushes them away when it hurts him,” he said. “We can’t trust McAdams on the west side of Salt Lake County. We need someone who is honest and trustworthy.”
Former South Jordan Mayor Dave Alvord hit McAdams for rewarding his political allies while punishing those he saw as enemies.
“The guy was Santa Claus. He’s not a fiscal conservative,” said Alvord.
Alvord claims Draper City was given a huge chunk of discretionary funds from the Mayor and County Council because Republican Mayor Troy Walker is an unabashed supporter of McAdams.
“Draper got a large amount of those funds while we were given a paltry amount because our city voted against Prop. 1 in 2015.” Alvord was referring to the ballot initiative to raise sales taxes to expand mass transit and fund transportation projects, insinuating his city was punished for rejecting the ballot initiative.
Draper Mayor Troy Walker bristled when told of Alvord’s comments.
“That’s not the case. He (Alvord) knows how those funds get distributed,” said Walker. “That’s ridiculous. I support McAdams because I think he’s a smart guy and he will put Utah first. I’ve got nothing bad to say about Mia Love, but I’ve come to know Ben and I think the world of him.”
This is not the first time Walker has courted the ire of fellow Republicans for his support for McAdams. He says Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, called him last month about his statement in McAdams’ campaign ad.
“Stephenson called me about my quote in Ben’s ad about lowering the tax rate. He told me he didn’t think it was accurate and wanted it taken down,” says Walker.
Stephenson is the President of the Utah Taxpayers Association, the group that went public with the original criticism of McAdams’ tax claims, but Walker cannot remember if Stephenson was representing the UTA during their call.
The most recent independent poll from UtahPolicy.com shows Mia Love with a 3-point lead over McAdams.
