State launches investigation into PAC running illegal ads. Democrat Party then hosts fundraiser with them

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The Indiana Election Division opened an official investigation into a local Political Action Committee for violating state election laws in at least one of their advertisements. This inquiry follows a REAL News Michiana investigation uncovering the illegal activity by the PAC known as the Victory Committee/St. Joseph County Victory Committee.

“The enclosed complaint… has been filed with the Indiana Election Division.” The October 11th letter sent to PAC treasurer, Ethan Horvath, states. “We look forward to your prompt response and thank you in advance for your cooperation.”

Subscribers can view the entire letter sent from the directors of the Indiana Election Division below.

The investigation follows a complaint by a local citizen which was filed on October 8th.

“I am writing to file a complaint and request a formal inquiry into a political action committee (PAC) registered with the Clerk of the Circuit Court in Saint Joseph County as ‘Victory Committee.'” The complaint reads. “On or about September 26, 2022, ‘Victory Committee’ began running ads targeting the campaign of State Representative Jake Teshka on social media. These ads both advocated against Rep. Teshka and urged voters to choose his opponent, Ross Deal. As the committee is not registered with the Indiana Election Commission per IC 3-9-1-4 but is making expenditures to influence the outcome of a state legislative race, I believe the committee is in violation of state law. Furthermore, the disclaimer on the social media ads claims that the expenditure was made by ‘St. Joseph County Victory Committee.’ No committee by that name can be found registered with either the state or the Saint Joseph County Circuit Court.”

Subscribers can read the full complaint below.

Despite the investigation launched on October 11th, the St. Joseph Democrat Party held a fundraiser with the PAC on Friday, October 14th. The event was a paid trivia night at the South Bend Firefighters Hall where several Democrat candidates attended, including County Commissioner Candidate Don Westerhausen.

STATE CAMPAIGN VIOLATIONS

RNM first published a story regarding the PAC’s illegal activity on October 6th, after not being able to find any documentation of the PAC through the Indiana Secretary of State (SOS) and the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) databases. While the PAC is registered with the St. Joseph County Clerk’s Office, there is no record of the PAC with the state or federal government. This means the PAC can push out advertisements on local campaigns. However, state and federal races are off limits.

Those details didn’t stop the St. Joseph County Victory Committee from running an advertisement on Facebook against State Representative Jake Teshka and in support of his opponent, Ross Deal.

According to page transparency data on Facebook, the ad ran from September 26th-October 2nd. The PAC took the original post down after being contacted by RNM for comment on the issue.

MISDEMEANOR OFFENSE

RNM also discovered the PAC committed an actual misdemeanor offense regarding the same advertisement by explicitly telling people to “choose” Ross Deal and not providing a disclaimer about who was behind the advertisement.

According to Indiana Code 3-9-3-2.5, “A communication described in subsection (b) must contain a disclaimer that appears and is presented in a clear and conspicuous manner to give the reader or observer adequate notice of the identity of persons who paid for and, when required, who authorized the communication. A disclaimer does not comply with this section if the disclaimer is difficult to read or if the placement of the disclaimer is easily overlooked.”

And, according to Indiana Code 3-14-1-3 “An individual, an organization, or a committee that circulates or publishes material in an election without the statement required under IC 3-9-3-2.5 commits a Class A misdemeanor.”

WHO RUNS IT?

According to PAC filing documents with the St. Joseph County Clerk’s Office, the PAC is run by two men. One is Josh Levesque out of Indianapolis. Another is Ethan Horvath, the former Executive Director of the St. Joseph County Democrat Party.

Subscribers can view the PAC’s organization documents below.

According to the St. Joseph County Democrat Party, Horvath left the area in 2015 to work on the campaign of a Democrat Mayoral candidate in Bloomington. The next year, he became the campaign manager in a failed State Senate race.

RNM reached out to Horvath three times. We left a voicemail and text message. He never returned our calls.

According to sources with the St. Joseph County GOP, criminal charges will be sought against the people involved in the illegal advertisement.

CONTINUING TREND

These revelations come as the Indiana State Police have opened two investigations into potential election crimes involving the Democrat St. Joseph County Clerk and her handling of absentee ballots.

Last month, a REAL News Michiana investigation uncovered video of Clerk Rita Glenn disposing of documents after entering the secured absentee ballot area, alone, after hours. She is seen taking a plastic bag into the ballot room, then coming out with several documents which she disposes of by shoving them down the sides of a blue trash can. Glenn and the Democrat Board member of the St. Joseph County election board then voted to allow Glenn to run absentee elections on her own, without bipartisan oversight, leading to a lawsuit by the Indiana Republican party.

In May, RNM uncovered the Clerk’s Office was in possession of multiple keys to gain access to the secured ballot room. The room in the County-City Building, in Downtown South Bend, is secured with two different locks, one for the Republicans the other for the Democrats. In theory, a Republican and Democrat keyholder must be present to gain access to the ballots. While Republican leadership was under the impression that only one key existed for each lock, it turns out there could be up to 7 keys total, with multiple Republican keys being held by Democrats.

RNM also uncovered that the St. Joseph County Democrat Chair has been soliciting illegal absentee votes.

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