Say Her Name, Say Her Name
Posted on October 22, 2008 at 11:15 amRosalind Kurita is not on the ballot in her race for re-election to the state Senate yet the Democratic Party wants to remind you that she is running — and that she allegedly violated campaign finance law:
According to a complaint filed today with the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance, Sen. Rosalind Kurita used her political action committee (PAC) to funnel more than $25,000 in illegal contributions to her Senate campaign.
According to the sworn complaint filed by Ricky Wallace of Montgomery County, Kurita in August and September illegally used her Kurita Majority PAC to pay for campaign expenses during that period, including: $17,070 for direct mail, $7,917 for legal services, and $665 for media consulting. Under state law, PACs can only provide up to $7,500 in contributions for a Primary or General Election.
“Unfortunately, Sen. Kurita is so power-hungry that she’s flagrantly violating Tennessee’s campaign finance law,” said Tennessee Democratic Party Chairman Gray Sasser. “She broke the law by crossing the one hundred foot boundary during the primary, and now, she’s cheating by illegally using PAC funds to cover her campaign expenses.”
Interesting that the Party would call attention to Kurita’s PAC which was created to establish a Democratic Majority in the legislature. A rare move for a woman folks now paint as a crypto-Republican.
So, not only are Democrats calling attention to the fact that residents of the Senate’s 22nd District can in fact vote for Rosalind Kurita via write-in, they are calling attention to the fact that Rosalind Kurita’s vote for Ron Ramsey in 2007 may not have been exactly what it looked like at first glance.
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7 Responses to “Say Her Name, Say Her Name”
You know, should Kurita come out of this election as the victor, poor Gray Sasser will have egg all over his face. By using an overwhelming amount of resources against a write-in candidate, Sasser shows just how petty he and the Democrat Party are. Tim Barnes isn’t “above politics,” as their mailpieces say - he’s just using the state party to do all the partisan bickering.
Meanwhile, they’re losing John Wilder’s seat and losing seats in the House. You’d think Sasser would prioritize and focus on maintaining the slim advantage they have in the House, rather than playing gotcha politics with a write-in candidate in Clarksville.
If Barnes can’t beat her, then maybe he should go back to being a sub-standard attorney and leave the politickin’ to the big boys.
Only time will tell just how inept li’l Sasser is. Nope, he’s no Jim Sasser.
- Matthew
Incumbent write-in bids don’t exactly lend themselves to the “any-publicity-is-good-publicity” kind of approach. Particularly when there are these pesky little things called election finance laws. If Kurita’s gonna stay on TV whining about the primary, then Dems have no choice but to keep smacking her around.
Is it not then named the Kurita Majority PAC? If it is, that shows her “L’Etat, c’est moi” attitude right there. “Righteousness is as Rosalind does.”
There’s something seriously wrong and bad about the way this woman’s mind works.
This woman will do anything or say anyting to win. Little Republican nitwits like Matthew Hurtt better learn quickly that she will squash them like bugs if it helps advance her cause. She barges into polling places - laws be damned. She illegally funds her campaign — laws be damned. Nothing matters to her except holding on to power.
Gray sasser is a TN lawyer. he knows that the law does not prohibit candidates from crossing the 100 foot boundary. It only prohibits electioneering within the boundary and Gray’s own witness testified that she put down her sign before entering the building in question which she was legally permitted to do. However, Sasser has clearly crossed the line.I was shocked to read today a letter that, according to its terms, was sent by TN Democratic Chair Gray Sasser to persons who voted in the Democratic primary, boldly stating that “Senator Kurita committed a Class C misdemeanor on primary-election day when she entered a polling place.”
Sasser is a Tennessee lawyer. He knows that Kurita has not been accused, let alone convicted of any crime. He knows that a “polling place” is clearly defined by TCA §2-1-104 (a) (17) to be: “the room or rooms where voters apply to vote and mark and cast their ballots “. He knows that the prohibition of TCA §2-7-103 speaks only to persons allowed in a “polling place” and not to persons allowed in the building in which the polling place is located. He knows that the only testimony proffered by anyone at the TNDP hearing was to the effect that Senator Kurita had entered the building in which a “polling place” was located. As Senator Kurita testified, she entered the building, went to the restroom and left without seeing another person and without going near the actual “polling place”. This is not prohibited by TN law.
Sasser’s defamatory letter is his last ditch attempt to punish Kurita for not voting for John Wilder for LT. Governor. Having deprived her of her rightful place on the ballot, he has now become the accuser, judge and jury and told voters in writing that she is a criminal, convicted by him of an offense as to which there has been no evidence of any kind that it was committed.
As a TN Democrat, I call for the immediate resignation of Gray Sasser from his position as Chair of the Tennessee Democratic Party. If he does not resign, the Executive Committee should remove him. In addition, the Board of Professional Responsibility of the Supreme Court of Tennessee should consider taking disciplinary action against Sasser, as an attorney, including possible disbarment, for his outrageous conduct attempting to interfere with the voting process by sending this letter to voters. If his action is not criminal, it should be. If it is, he should be charged immediately.
I would say that the TNDP is obsessing over Kurita. It would make more sense to be helping other Democrats get their message out.
Yeah, Sasser is a Tennessee lawyer. He knows you can’t pay campaign expenses out of your PAC. Cheatin’ Ros does, too, but she did it anyway. This woman don’t give a shit about anything except herself.