Rocker James Ritchie, aka “Kid Rock,” has been cleared of violating federal election laws with his pretend Senate run in 2018.
While he had argued that it was just a publicity stunt to sell merchandise and promote an album, lawyers on the Federal Election Commission felt he should be punished for his “Kid Rock for Senate” campaign and failure to file the proper documents to run.
But the FEC, led by two Republicans and a Democrat who believed the rocker, voted 3-1 against taking action in a vote just released.
Only one Democrat on the evenly split panel, Commissioner Ellen Weintraub, voted to push for a further investigation into the Republican’s faux campaign.
At issue was his fake campaign, initially tweeted about his plans to run for Senate from Michigan in July 2017. In a July 12 tweet, he wrote, “I have had a ton of emails and texts asking me if this website is real… kidrockforsenate.com. The answer is an absolute YES.” It included a yard sign reading “KID ROCK FOR US SENATE.”
Media buzzed immediately buzzed about his potential race, and he conceded that he was interested, especially in selling Kid Rock for Senate gear to fans.
But he later went on the Howard Stern show and admitted it was a stunt. “Like who [expletive] couldn’t figure that out? I’ve released a new album…I’m going on tour too…I have people that work for me they’re on the in. I’m like [expletive] no we’re not doing it,” he told the shock jock.
The FEC lawyers, however, argued that by selling gear and talking up a potential Senate run, he was testing the waters just like other Senate candidates and that he should have filed proper paperwork.
In a memo also released by the FEC, Commission Chair Caroline Hunter and Matthew Peterson found that the recommendation to investigate Kid Rock was silly.
“Ritchie — who respondents credibly argue is barred from being identified as ‘Kid Rock’ on a Michigan election ballot — does not appear to have taken even the most basic steps to become a candidate. There is no evidence that Ritchie ever established a committee or campaign account, sought ballot access, hired a campaign staff or political consultants, sought to participate in a candidate debate, opened a campaign office, or solicited contributions for a campaign. Nor does the record show that Ritchie made statements indicating he was a candidate under his legal name,” they wrote.
They added: “Third, the Commission has previously dismissed matters when actions forming the basis for a violation are revealed to be part of a joke, parody, or otherwise unserious. Here, Ritchie states that the ‘Kid Rock for US Senate’ effort was not a sincere attempt to seek federal office, but rather continued a ‘long line of celebrity parodies of running for office.’ Because the record indicates that Ritchie never seriously considered becoming a candidate, and in the interest of fairness and consistency in Commission enforcement, this matter merits dismissal.”
