Democratic candidate Betsy Markey has filed a complaint with Colorado officials against her opponent, alleging Rep. Marilyn Musgrave’s (R-Colo.) campaign made “demonstrably false” claims that violate Colorado laws forbidding false statements about political candidates.
The Musgrave ad charges that Markey violated U.S. Senate ethics rules when a company in which Markey was highly invested accepted government contracts while she worked as a paid staffer for Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.). The ad says Markey “got rich on non-competitive Haliburton style contracts,” which then became more lucrative after she took a job with Salazar.
“The false statements represent the type of political deception that the voting public has come to despise,” Markey wrote to the Larimer County Distric Attorney, requesting an investigation. “Ads such as Mrs. Musgrave’s deceive the public and undermine the entire democratic process.”
A six-member commission convened by the Colorado District Attorney’s Council will be responsible for investigating the claim, reports PolitickerCO.
Markey and Musgrave have been locked in a contentious race in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, where a new poll showed Markey leading Musgrave.
That poll, conducted by Grove Insight for EMILY’s List–one of Markey’s backers–had Markey at 47 percent and Musgrave, the incumbent, at 38 percent. The survey, conducted from September 8-10, before the filings, had a 4.9 percent margin of error.
–Michael O’Brien