* Ozinga Bros. launched its first radio advertisements on WLS-AM to air through June. The ads promote a more environmentally friendly, porous concrete and mention the Ozinga name 8 times. Coincidentally, Marty Ozinga is also gearing up to run for the 11th District congressional seat.
The DCC questioned whether Ozinga was blurring federal election rules about electioneering. Candidates can be fined by the Federal Election Commission for overlapping and coordinating their business and campaign operations, like this blast from the past:
For example, Jim Oberweis, of Oberweis Dairy, ran television advertisements about the dairy - bankrolled by the dairy - that featured him prominently at a time he was seeking the GOP U.S. Senate nomination. The FEC fined his campaign $21,000.
The Democrats’ regional director, Ryan Rudominer said “Here you have Mr. Ozinga taking a page from the Oberweis playbook. The perception is that it’s like a campaign ad.”
* Although the timing of the Ozinga radio ad is “ironic,” the Ozinga campaign said that this is the first time the company has purchased radio advertising. Interesting.
“Go green with Ozinga,” the ad says, along with, “The next time you see the red-and-white striped trucks, remember Ozinga, your resource for a better tomorrow.” However, the ad never explicitly mentions Marty Ozinga, just the company.
Then there was this overly zealous defense by WLS for the ad:
It was the phone call from WLS general manager John Gallagher, who defended the ads, requested I send along the DCCC statement and generally went to bat for Ozinga, one of his advertisers.
“If the DCCC is raising an issue on it, and we’ve had run-ins over the years, I’d like to know the grounds they are making that claim and get attorneys involved,” he told me. “If the DCCC is going to come after them for that, they’d have to go after half the people running for office in the United States, no matter when the contract was signed.”
Question: Does this tightrope walking constitute a violation of FEC regulations, or is this fair game?