Complaint Opinion 04-03

​Complaint alleges the respondent used his state legislative e mail address in responding to a newspaper's candidate profile questionnaire, in violation of RCW 42.52.180.

​Board concluded there was reasonable cause to believe that the use of the legislative e mail address was in support of respondent's campaign; however, the action complained of was inadvertent and minor and further proceedings were not warranted.  Board noted that the campaign-related materials were not produced by legislator but were on newspaper's web site that did not state the e mail address was a campaign contact; questionnaire requested both a private and public e mail address; and the fact the respondent did not submit his legislative telephone number in response to a request for a "public" number support the conclusion this was an inadvertent mistake.