Benson's latest "mistake": "Fake" Letters to the Editor / Humprey leads in poll

Craig Benson, former CEO of Cabletron Systems is running for the Republican nomination for governor of the state of New Hampshire. Craig Benson has a lot of money, and Craig Benson has raised a lot of money for Republicans, there's no doubt about that, his campaign commercials on TV and radio repeat it over and over.

Along the way, Craig Benson has also raised a lot of money for Democrats. In 1993, Craig Benson gave a substantial contribution to the Bill Clinton Inaugural Committee. He gave money not to Republican candidate John Dowd, but to Democrat Beverly Hollingworth, who was elected, giving Democrats control of the state senate in 1998. In 1998 and 2000 Benson gave contributions totaling $10,000 to Democrat governor Jeanne Shaheen. Benson gave nothing to the Republican nominees for governor in either of those elections; Jay Lucas or Benson's current rival Gordon Humphrey. It's Gordon Humphrey's scant radio and TV commercials that mention these contributions to Democrats, questioning Benson's loyalty. The TV ad also features an AP headline questioning, "Is Craig Benson A 'Democrat in Republican Clothing?'"

The current Benson ads say that Gordon Humphrey should "get the facts straight" and "stop the attack ads". They do not deny any of the Benson contributions to Democrats, they simply attack Humphrey for mentioning it and point out that Benson has raised money for Republicans as well. Benson's fundraisor for George W. Bush was the largest in state history.

There's also been a flap in these parts because Benson hired a private investigator to look into Humphrey's background, and then denied it at a closed-door meeting of GOP gubernatorial candidates. Only when Humphrey confronted Benson during the so-called 'unity meeting' at state party headquarters in December, 2001, and told him that he knew the investigator’s name, address and telephone number, did Benson own up to it, according to Humphrey, and two other GOP candidates Bruce Keough and David Corbin. All three candidates say that Benson had tried to hide the hiring from his primary foes until Humphrey produced the investigator's name (Richard Billmire).

Benson was unable explain how three people, albeit all primary foes, remember the exchange differently than he does. "I don't know," he said, "and it's interesting. I stand by my recollection." That he denied hiring the investigator, his campaign says, "was a mistake".

Today (June 18, 2002), Benson's campaign manager, Mike Denehey, is in spin-control mode again. The Benson campaign has admitted today to sending two "fake" letters to the Editor of the Lawrence Eagle Tribune, trumpeting Benson's candidacy. The letters were signed by New Hampshire residents from Chester and Danville, yet, when the Eagle Tribune checked with those New Hampshire residents, they knew nothing about the letters and hadn't given permission for them to be sent. Denehey says, "a staffer sent the letters by mistake."

Today on the Dan Pierce show carried on WGIR radio, Denehey said, "It was a mistake. I'm sure that Gordon Humphrey has never made a mistake." Denehey failed to explain how such a mistake could happen and instead attempted to deflect the questions by saying, "this election is about issues," and that unlike Benson, "Humphrey refuses to talk about issues".

Humphrey, who has served two terms as a United States Senator beginning in 1978, has talked extensively about the issues, including his opposition to expanded gambling, his support for increasing affordable housing, state preparedness and security, school funding, high-speed Internet access for every community in New Hampshire no matter how remote and his goal of turning ten percent of the state employees in Concord into telecommuters in order to alleviate traffic congestion.

Humphrey's also talking about Benson's "mistakes", and Denehey doesn't like it, calling Humphrey's charges, "attacks". While Denehey has repeatedly refused to explain Benson's contributions to Democrats, and refused to talk about issues until questioned about his campaign's latest mistake, Gordon Humphrey manages to lead the field in a professional poll taken last week among likely Republican voters. The poll was commissioned by the campaign of Bruce Keough, one of the contenders for the GOP gubernatorial nomination. Keough released it this morning at a Concord press conference.

According to the Keough campaign, Humphrey leads Benson by 37 percent to 32 percent. The poll was undertaken by the Tarrance Group, a Washington pollster of national repute. Five hundred registered voters likely to vote in the Republican Primary on September 10 were interviewed between June 10th and 12th.

Humphrey spokesperson Jim Rubens said the Keough poll bears out Humphrey’s own internal tracking and demonstrates Humphrey’s continued strength, despite heavy spending by the Benson campaign.

About 4:00 PM today (June 20, 2002) a letter signed by the campaign managers of GOP gubernatorial candidates Gordon Humphrey and Bruce Keough was delivered to the Attorney General of New Hampshire. The letter requests that the AG look into allegations of campaign finance irregularities within the Benson for Governor campaign.

The joint letter charges violations of New Hampshire campaign law which if true, calls into qustion Benson's management skills at best - and at worst, implies criminial behaviour and a pattern of misdeeds and denial on the part of Craig Benson.

The letter alleges that Benson's personal contribution of $1,425,000 to his own campaign may be illegal. A Campaign Media Advisor for the Humphrey campaign explained on WGIR AM radio that, if Benson's contribution was to his Exploratory Committee, known as "WhyBenson.com", that state campaign finance law limits all such contributions to exploratory committees to a maximum $5,000 each, including the candidates own contribution.

If, on the other hand, as the Benson Campaign alleges, the $1.4 million contribution was to the candidate's own Campaign Finance Committee known as "Benson for Governor". then according to the letter, there is no limit on what the candidate contributes, but, contributions from individuals may not exceed $1,000, unless the candidate has agreed to a voluntary $655,000 cap the letter states.

Jim Roubson, speaking on behalf of the Humphrey campaign told WGIR's Dan Pierce that disclosure statements reveal that the "Benson for Governor" campaign has recieved substancial individual contributions in excess of the $1,000 linit. A spokesman for the Keough Campaign ageed that under one or the other scenarios, the Benson Campaign is in violation of state campaign finance laws and he called on the state AG to make a determination and remedy.

Keith Herman, the Policy Chair of the Benson Campaign told Pierce that, "there has been no violation of rules" and cited "R.S. 664, colon 4, section 5" of the state election statutes, claiming that under the law, the individual contribution limit is $5,000 unless the contribution is being given, "anonymously or in the form of a concealed loan".

"It's more negative campaigning by Humphrey", Herman said, "a desperate effort to grab headlines and avoid the issues." Herman also said that Bruce Keough had, "joined in the attacks in an effort to cash in on Humphrey's coat-tails."

The New Hampshire callers to the Dan Pierce show weighed heavily against Benson, with many callers bringing up a laundry list of Benson controversies, including the fact that his business is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and that there are more than a dozen class action law suits against the company alleging accounting irregularities. One caller reminded that last week the Eagle Tribune published an internal Benson Campaign memo to its staff asking, "As of this morning, please stop calling the Humphrey household . . .", and another revisited the incident earlier this week when the Benson Campaign admitted to sending "Fake" letters of endorsement to the Editor of a Massachusetts newspaper.

The New Hampshire Attorney General, Philip T. McLaughlin, could not be reached for comment this afternoon.

* * * * * *

Following is the section of New Hampshire law cited by Benson spokesman Keith Herman:

http://gencourt.state.nh.us/rs a/html/LXIII/664/664-4.htm
New Hampshire TITLE LXIII
ELECTIONS CHAPTER 664
POLITICAL EXPENDITURES AND CONTRIBUTIONS
Section 664:4 Prohibited Political Contributions
No contribution, whether tangible or intangible, shall be made to a candidate, a political committee, or political party, or in behalf of a candidate or political committee or political party, directly or indirectly, for the purpose of promoting the success or defeat of any candidate or political party at any state primary or general election:
[snip]
V. By any person (1) if in excess of $5,000 in value, except for contributions made by a candidate in behalf of his own candidacy, or if in excess of $1,000 in value by any person or by any political committee to a candidate or a political committee working on behalf of a candidate who does not voluntarily agree to limit his campaign expenditures and those expenditures made on his behalf as provided in RSA 664:5-a, (2) if made anonymously or under a name not that of the donor, (3) if made in the guise of a loan, (4) if any other manner concealed, (5) if made without the knowledge and written consent of the candidate or his fiscal agent, a political committee or its treasurer, or not to any one of the same.

" " " " " " "

It appears that Section 664:5-a http://gencourt.state.nh.us/rs a/html/LXIII/664/664-5-a.htm deals with a candidates voluntarily agreement to limitations on campaign expenditures which Benson has not opted to file. Therefore, it would appear that contributions to his Campaign Committee are limited to the $1,000 cap cited in 664:4 V.

I'm not a lawyer, what do you think?

I'm not a lawyer, what do you think?

I'm not a lawyer, either. I think I wished the candidates would stick to the issues. My impression of Benson is that he is a little too "slick" and is joining the trend, which I understand, but do not like, of rich people 'buying' an office. My impression of Humphrey is that he does so much better when he sticks to the issues. I was a newly minted Granite Stater in '78 when he ran for Senate and did so well by really emphasizing issues.

Keogh may actually be the best if the three if we want, as I do, to avoid income or sales taxes but I just don't really have a sense or a 'handle' on him yet. I really want to vote for Gordo, and if I had to do so today I'd choose him, but he turns me off a bit when he emphasizes the 'cultural' issues. Fix the friggin' school funding mess, Gordon. I like Rubens a lot and his presence in the Gordo camp is a plus for me.

Since I'm still on the keyboard, I think Dan Pierce who I listen to infrequently now attracts a pretty conservative audience, by and large. He is bright and I agree with a lot he says, but he's kinda shrill and hard to listen to sometimes.

I agree with you about Dan, but he's the best New Hampshire has to offer when it comes to local issues imho. Dan worked for Humprey as a media consultant during the 2000 campaign and he's been very honest and forthcoming about that role.

I cannot blame Dan for going with the local issues when they present themselves and if it turns out that Benson's millions are being used outside the letter of the law he should be reigned in. His spokesman today said that Benson has done nothing that Humphrey hasn't done in the past and is doing now. Somehow I doubt that, as Benson has saturated the media with ad buys and a Humphrey commercial at this point is rare.

I have yet to hear Craig Benson on the Pierce show, always a spokesmen, while all the other candidates are almost regulars. Humphrey was on earlier this week for several segments and in his defense they talked about the issues, not Benson. The only Benson talk that I recall was an answer to Bensons ads saying that Gordon Humphrey is a "career politician". Humphrey talked about his years as a commercial pilot and his real estate business - enough to convince me that Benson's charge is at least embellished.

After initially liking Benson, I get the impression now that he attacks by saying he's being attacked! I sort of think that giving tens of thousands of dollars to Shaheen ad the libs is more of an issue than an attack, but that's just my opinion.

I'm looking forward to hearing more from Keogh too.

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