Aug 8, 2004

Denning's brother "buys" JoCo sheriff's election 
for him with Citizens for Justice PAC

The Kansas City Star reported this story on July 18, 2004:

Sheriff says challenger violated finance law
Sheriff Currie Myers' camp has alleged that Myers' challenger in the Republican primary broke a campaign finance law with a television commercial.

Last week Myers released a contract with Time Warner Cable that secured the broadcasts of a commercial on behalf of his opponent, former undersheriff Frank Denning. The contract, said Myers' campaign spokeswoman, Valerie Jung, suggests that Denning illegally cooperated with a political action committee.

But Denning said the suggestion was untrue because he did not know about the ad before it was broadcast.

Denning's brother, Jim Denning, said that the PAC he leads made the ad in support of Frank Denning and bought broadcast time without the candidate's knowledge, as an attorney told him the PAC must do to stay within the law.

A media firm that handled the contract should have told the cable company that the ad was for the Citizens for Justice PAC, but mistakenly wrote that it was for Frank Denning's campaign, Jim Denning said.

The Kansas Secretary of State reports these officers for The Citizens for Justice PAC:

• Chair:  Jim Denning, 8416 W 115th St, Overland Park

• Treasurer:  Tim Johnson, 15710 W. 143rd Terr, Olathe

Who were the contributors that donated $47,000 to the Citizens for Justice PAC?  Read the July 26, 2004 PAC report yourself.  Only two people donated to this PAC:  Jim Denning, and his wife Marearl, at 8416 W. 115th St.  Jim is a "Health Care Administrator" and made three donations:  $11,000 + $20,000 + $5,000.  Jim's wife, Marearl, who is an artist, donated $11,000.

Almost all the money ($20,000 + $20,000) was spent on cable TV advertising with Keystone Media from Austin, TX.  An additional $5412 was spend on the production of the TV commercial with Artemis Marketing in Austin, TX.  Legals fees with Shugart Thomson & Kilory accounted for the remaining expenditure ($270 + $899).

So, it must be brotherly love that prompted Jim to spend so much money on his brother's race for Johnson County Sheriff.

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