USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — A watchdog group today accused Detroit musician Kid Rock of violating federal election law by declaring himself a candidate for a Senate seat in Michigan but not registering his candidacy or reporting campaign contributions.
The group Common Cause filed the complaint with the Federal Election Commission and also asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions to investigate whether the musician —whose real name is Robert Ritchie — has violated election law.
“Given the activities we’ve documented in the complaint, he can’t reasonably claim to be merely testing the waters of candidacy and thus exempt from candidate filing requirements,” said Paul S. Ryan, Common Cause’s vice president for policy and litigation. “He is a candidate and is obligated to abide by all the rules.”
Ritchie dismissed the allegations, issuing the following statement, “I am starting to see reports from the misinformed press and the fake news on how I am in violation of breaking campaign law. #1: I have still not officially announced my candidacy. #2: See #1 and go f— yourselves.”
The FEC acknowledged receipt of the complaint but couldn’t say more.
Complaints and any investigations they spark are kept confidential until such time as the commission acts upon them — a process that can take years.In many cases, such complaints lead to no action whatsoever.
For months, it has been far from clear whether Kid Rock intends to run for the seat currently held by Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., next year: He has made only cryptic remarks about his intentions and in July said he would hold off on a decision, using funds raised through merchandise sales to fund voter registration efforts instead.
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But earlier statements he made were less clear, saying…
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