Secretary of State Jena Griswold exploited the goodwill of Wayne Williams, her predecessor, and spent $1 million in taxpayer dollars to air a TV ad that helps her reelection campaign. Time will tell whether this violates campaign finance laws, but the first question is: “Why did Williams do this?”

The ad features Griswold and Williams assuring viewers our elections are fair and secure. Good message, for sure.

Yet, the TV blitz in late August makes the ad appear like a Williams endorsement of Griswold — though Williams wholeheartedly supports Republican nominee Pam Anderson. Williams has asked Griswold to pull the ads Tuesday, 30 days before ballots go out. He believes Griswold will comply.

Williams served as secretary from 2015 through January 2019 and was widely considered the country’s most competent elections official. Accolades came from the right, left and center — including the left-leaning Washington Post. At the time, Donald Trump’s election had conspiracy theorists claiming Russia rigged the outcome — a false claim that led to congressional hearings and lasted four years.

Williams had a system considered so secure even foreign aggressors could not hack it.

Despite Williams’ cross-partisan appeal, Griswold unseated him in the blue wave of 2018. That’s when Coloradans revolted against Trump by voting straight-line Democratic.

Griswold lied throughout her 2018 campaign. She claimed Williams gave private voter information to the White House, which was and remains provably false. She blasted Williams for practicing law on the side, as if scandalous, even though he publicly announced plans to do so when he first campaigned for the office. The job paid $68,500, and Williams had four dependents in college.

Inside that framework, Griswold campaigned on a promise to devote 100% of her time to the secretary’s job — no side concerns. Upon taking office, she immediately led a boycott of Alabama because she didn’t like that state’s abortion law. Six months after her election, Griswold announced plans to run for the Senate. So much for that focus on the job.

Griswold continues lying. The night Anderson, the former Jefferson County clerk, won her primary to challenge Griswold — defeating election conspiracy theorist Tina Peters — Griswold tweeted that Anderson “pandered to extremists” to win. Truth be damned. Anderson campaigned to centrists, blasting deniers of the 2020 election. Griswold clearly wants to confuse the public about which Republican won.

Aside from deception, Griswold does not support the secure and fair elections Williams established. She supported federal House Resolution 1, which would have outlawed Colorado’s ballot signature verification process — a key component of ensuring fair elections.

“She (Griswold) makes these ridiculous claims that Pam Anderson doesn’t support our election process,” Williams told a member of The Gazette’s editorial board. “Pam supports signature verification because it ensures every ballot traces back to a certain person. Griswold wanted to make this illegal. She used state resources to send out a press release announcing her support of HR 1, meaning she doesn’t support our election process.”

Given Griswold’s disgraceful performance, Coloradans wonder why Williams helped make her look credible with a pricey ad campaign in advance of November.

Williams said Griswold asked him to participate in a video to help ease concerns about election integrity. In 2017, Williams made a similar request of former Democratic Secretary of State Bernie Buescher. The two spent no money, instead cooperating on a guest column for a community newspaper.

When Williams received Griswold’s request, he saw an opportunity to ensure Republicans would not avoid the November election because of right-wing extremists claiming our elections are rigged. The request came during primary season. Griswold was unopposed, so Williams saw no problem.

Williams said he had no idea Griswold would spend $1 million airing the ad on TV after her primary.

“I was thinking it might be something like a Facebook video during the primary. I don’t know that I was misled,” Williams said. “I may not have been fully informed, but I did not ask what they might spend on this. Bernie and I spent nothing, so I wasn’t visualizing anything like this when I agreed to it.”

Williams has too much class to dodge responsibility or speak poorly of the woman who defeated him. By contrast, Griswold exploited her predecessor’s honesty, trust and genuine concern for the democratic process. Given Griswold’s track record, this is no surprise.

Colorado Springs Gazette Editorial Board