In CD1 race, mysterious group's ads may have violated campaign finance law

A group spending money in the race for Arizona’s 1st Congressional District hasn’t registered with federal elections officials in what one expert said could be a violation of campaign finance law.

The Turn AZ Blue PAC has bought television ads against Democratic congressional candidate Marlene Galán-Woods, one of the six Democratic candidates looking to challenge incumbent Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz., in the Scottsdale-area district.

Records show the group has spent more than the sum that is often required for groups to register with federal elections officials, but it still hasn’t done so.

In Federal Communication Commission documents disclosing the ad buys, Turn AZ Blue PAC is described as an “FEC Super PAC,” a type of political action committee that operates at the federal level.

If that is accurate, then their actions would appear to violate campaign finance law, said Jim Barton, a lawyer with expertise in the area.

PACs are required to register with the Federal Election Commission within 10 days of raising or spending $1,000.

The Turn AZ Blue PAC’s spending on television advertisements in the month of March exceeded that sum, according to the public disclosures. But it is still not registered with the FEC, the agency confirmed in late June.

“Based on the representations that the organization has made to the FCC, namely, that it’s a federal super PAC. … It seems, by their own admission, that they are violating the law,” Barton said.

“I would think they would be pretty vulnerable, based on those FCC reports, to a complaint.”

In Barton’s assessment it’s “quite uncommon” for a group to operate that way. He added the caveat that if the group isn’t a PAC, contrary to their description on the FCC forms, then different rules would apply to them, and they may not be out of compliance with the law.

No political group has publicly taken credit for the spending. One of the organization’s few public contacts is Thomas Datwyler, a campaign operative best known for his involvement with the embattled former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y. He is named as treasurer.

Datwyler made headlines in 2023 when he claimed that Santos had erroneously listed him as a campaign treasurer and, through a lawyer, requested a criminal investigation on the matter, according to Daily Beast reporting. His lawyer later retracted that request following reporting that Datwyler had, in fact, acted as Santos’ treasurer.

Reached with questions about the Turn AZ Blue PAC via email, Datwyler again claimed that his name had been listed unwittingly.

He wrote in an email that he had “no idea” how much the group had spent and said, “I'm not associated with them.” He speculated aloud who had listed him as a contact for the organization.

Campaign finance investigations have trailed Datwyler in his work across the country, the Daily Beast has reported.

Another contact listed on the group’s disclosures is Carlos Sierra, a consultant who says he has worked for Republican, Democratic, and third-party campaigns and has been endorsed by Schweikert for his “politics” skills on LinkedIn, the employment-focused social media platform. Sierra did not respond to a follow-up question about Schweikert or his allies’ possible involvement with the group.

Aditi Katti, Galán-Woods’ campaign manager, argued that the group’s GOP connections are a sign that Republicans see her candidacy as a threat.

“Schweikert and his Republican cronies have been worried about Marlene since day one because they know when she wins the primary, she will defeat David Schweikert,” Katti wrote.

“From hiring disgraced GOP operatives to make malicious and illegal attack ads to spending thousands of dollars on a sham signature challenge to keep her off the ballot, Republicans have tried to keep Marlene out of the general election,” Katti continued, referencing an effort to challenge the validity of the signatures the campaign gathered to appear on the ballot.

One of the group’s television ads depicted Galán-Woods as a puppet, accusing her of, among other attacks, being a “political opportunist” who “used to be anti-choice.”

Galán-Woods was a registered Republican while the party pursued restrictions on abortion, though she has said she always supported abortion rights.

Galán-Woods’ campaign has written a challenge letter to the television stations who aired the ad saying it was “riddled with lies and falsehoods.”

Laura Gersony covers national politics for the Arizona Republic. Contact her at [email protected] or 480-372-0389.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: In the AZ CD1 race, did Turn AZ Blue PAC violate campaign finance law?