Group behind pro-Sandoval ads says registering as PAC not required

A Virginia-based political group will defend its right to run political ads in Nevada without registering with the secretary of state, even though its initial campaign in support of Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Sandoval is over.

Barry Bennett, a director for the Alliance for America's Future, said Wednesday that the time the group bought on Nevada airwaves for ads boosting Sandoval has expired, but their court battle against Secretary of State Ross Miller will continue.

Bennett also said an affiliate of the group, called the Partnership for America's Future, is considering launching ads in support of Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sue Lowden.

Miller is seeking a restraining order to block the alliance's Sandoval ads because, he says, the group is required to register with the state as a political action committee, or PAC, and hasn't done so.

Bennett and attorney Scott Scherer, a former supervising deputy attorney general for gaming in Nevada, say the alliance ads don't contain an "express advocacy" specifically telling viewers to vote for Sandoval and, as such, the group isn't required to register as a PAC.

Both the alliance and the partnership are registered with the Internal Revenue Service and the Virginia State Corporation Commission.

IRS records identify Bennett, a former chief of staff to Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Ohio; Mary Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney; and Kara Ahern, a former political director for Cheney and fundraiser for former New York Gov. George Pataki, as directors.

Under IRS rules, the alliance isn't required to identify its donors. But the partnership, the affiliated group poised to run ads in federal races, would be required to identify donors and expenditures with the Federal Election Commission.

Bennett said the group will operate in Nevada and support Lowden, one of three candidates with a good chance of winning the Republican nomination, to challenge Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., in the general election.