Republican Colorado gubernatorial candidate Victor Marx appears to be trying to solicit unlimited campaign contributions through a legal loophole, 9News reported on Friday.
“Marx is telling donors that they can give without legal restrictions by purchasing campaign merchandise through a newly-created online store, which features Victor For Governor swag packages selling for as much as $1,299. The most expensive package includes an ‘exclusive private group Zoom with your next Governor, Victor Marx,’” said the report. Marx put up this online store after taking down his previous one, which included a disclaimer that all purchases were campaign contributions.
“Under Colorado campaign finance law, campaigns must report as a donation any excess amount received for merchandise beyond the campaign’s cost for the item,” the report noted. However, Marx will not disclose where this money is going and won’t clarify whether it is being used for campaign finance anymore.
During the primary, the report noted, “Marx’s campaign violated campaign finance laws in the primary by accepting more than 100 contributions in excess of the state’s $1,450 limit,” per the Secretary of State’s office, and he “faces potential fines and penalties at a hearing in September” — but he denies he has done anything wrong and calls the violations a “nothing burger.”
“What other people didn’t understand, if they made a $1,450 donation, the way it was set up, when they ordered merch, that counted against them,” said Marx. He said under the newly created store, “If they order merchandise, there’s no limit on that. They can order as much as they want. That will really help us.”
But experts have said this workaround isn’t real, with GOP-turned-independent campaign finance attorney Mario Nicolais slamming Marx’s unlimited merch store as “patently illegal.”
Marx, a controversial candidate known for his claims that he was forced to kill a man when he was a child, “has long rejected claims by other Republicans that he is grifting off the race for governor in order to enrich himself” the report noted. His two primary opponents, state Rep. Scott Bottoms and state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer, have both refused to endorse him.
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