Republicans are determined to create as many political headaches for Hassan as possible.
On the campaign side, the state party has filed several complaints with the attorney general’s office regarding her fundraising and other campaign actions. The first complaint resulted in Hassan’s campaign returning $33,000 in donations that it received one day after she filed for re-election, which is when donation limits for political committees set in. Their new criticism focuses on Hassan’s first television ad, which started airing this week.
Hassan filmed the ad in the governor’s office, which the state Republican Party says violates a state law banning electioneering on government property. State party Chairwoman Jennifer Horn filed an information request asking when Hassan filmed the ad and whether her official staff were paid. In a response sent Friday afternoon, Hassan’s legal counsel, Lucy Hodder, said Hassan filmed the ad on Saturday, July 26. She said no staff employed by the governor’s office were scheduled to assist “in any official capacity.” She also said any emails about the ad were related to scheduling, but she did not provide the emails.
The state Democratic Party, meanwhile, launched personal attacks on Horn, calling her “desperate” for attacking Hassan’s ethics. They pointed to Horn owing $92,000 in back taxes, something that first surfaced in 2013.
“Between not paying her taxes and her questionable campaign finance actions, Horn’s credibility on ethical questions is even worse than her record of winning elections,” Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley said in a press release.
On the official side, state Republicans are after Hassan to give an update on state spending. The fiscal year closed June 30 with revenues coming in close to the targets, but a report on spending is not due until 90 days after the close of the year.
Democratic leadership has not agreed to Republican requests for spending updates. On Friday, Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley, a Wolfeboro Republican, launched something called “Spending Watch ’14,” which will track the number of days between the end of the fiscal year and when state agencies report their spending. So far its been 32. A press release noted its been 86 since Hassan put her spending freeze in place.
Last week she also asked state agencies to put a hold on “large expenditures” and directed agency heads to submit “conservative” budget proposals for the next budget.
.
