State Sen. Perry Will faces complaints over campaign signage, multiple committees
Two complaints filed with the Colorado Secretary of State against state Sen. Perry Will allege that the current senator and Garfield County Commissioner District 2 candidate failed to include required disclaimers on campaign materials and has maintained multiple active campaign committees, which is prohibited under state election law, according to the Secretary of State website.
The complaints were filed by Garfield County Democratic Party Chair Debbie Bruell. The first complaint, filed Oct. 21, alleges that Will’s campaign signs lacked proper disclaimers to show who paid for them. The second complaint, filed Oct. 23, contends that Will failed to close his Senate campaign committee before opening one for his county commissioner run.
Will has 10 business days to cure, or fix the issues that drove the complaints. If they aren’t fixed in the time provided then the Secretary of State’s office could move the complaint forward for investigation. Will said the Secretary of State’s office has been assisting him, and he plans to resolve any remaining issues within the required timeframe.
Bruell emphasized the need for transparency, noting that the public should be able to identify the sources behind campaign advertisements.
“Whenever we produce mass expenditures for advertisements or banners or signs, we have to say who has paid for those,” Bruell said. “He has many signs out with no disclaimer. Signs that are out that have the wrong disclaimer,” she added.
Bruell alleged that Will “isn’t supposed to have two candidate committees” and is required to dissolve one within ten days when funds are transferred.
“He is our state senator. He announced his bid for re-election and then changed his mind,” Bruell said. “You’re supposed to close down one when you start the other, and he did not do that,” she added.
Will responded to the complaints, describing them as honest mistakes.
“I had the paid-for-by Committee to Elect Perry Will, because that was my Senate committee,” Will said, explaining that the error occurred after switching to his county commissioner campaign. “It was just an oversight… I wasn’t trying to hide anything,” he said. Will also noted that stickers correcting the error have been added to the signs.
Will further addressed the issue of maintaining multiple campaign committees, acknowledging difficulties in navigating the process.
“I had a Senate committee, and then when I decided to run for county commissioner, I had to have a commissioner committee,” Will said. “It was just a mistake on my part.”
Election day is set for Nov. 5
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