KQMS radio says Secretary of State investigating election ad that ran days before primary

The story behind an election radio advertisement that was pulled from the air in the days leading up to the March 5 primary election in Shasta County has taken another turn.

The California Secretary of State’s Office has opened an investigation into the spot that was heard on KQMS before it was taken off the air, the Redding radio station posted on its website Monday.

"It is our general policy to not disclose the existence of any investigation," the Secretary of State's press office said in an email to the Record Searchlight.

KQMS said on March 4, the day before last Tuesday's primary, that Shasta County Supervisor Patrick Jones and Bev Gray, the person Jones appointed to the County Elections Commission, were behind the radio advertisement. The commission is the citizens’ committee that Jones created last year.

KQMS on Monday posted on its website what appeared to be a further attempt to clarify how the ad got on the air.

“The staff member who produced the commercial thought Gray was on official business issuing a public service announcement, thus the record was not placed in the company’s publicly accessible online political file,” according to the radio’s post.

The post also states that the invoice for the ad "shows it was billed to Jones Fort,” the Redding gun shop that Jones helps manage.

More: Why Shasta County's debate over guns at work keeps coming back

In a text to the Record Searchlight, Jones denied the allegation while also making unproven claims that the voter rolls are inaccurate.

“Not true. The DA (Shasta County District Attorney’s Office) sent two detectives to check. The dirty voter rolls is the issue and standing in the way of correcting this is a crime,” Jones said.

The Record Searchlight called the DA’s office to verify Jones’ assertion that he was questioned by detectives.

In an emailed statement Spokeswoman Briona Sisneros wrote: "The Shasta County District Attorney’s Office investigates allegations of potential election law violations referred to the office. Frequently, we work with the Secretary of State to investigate these allegations and refer potential violations to them when appropriate. A referral for investigation was made to our office regarding the radio advertisement in question. Ordinarily, we do not comment on the status of investigations, and will not be doing so regarding this referral."

Background on the political ad that led to county warning residents

Jones has vehemently denied that he had anything to do with the radio ad, insisting that Gray wrote it and had it placed on the radio.

"Bev Gray, she wrote that ad. She sent the ad. That's it, so that they can't spin it any other way. They may not like me, that's fine. But that's incorrect," Jones told the Record Searchlight last week.

The radio ad encouraged anyone who received ballots or other voting materials that did not belong to them or a member of their household to report it by calling a private individual's phone number.

The County Administrative Office's statement on March 1 urged residents not to call the private number and instead contact the county registrar of voters office.

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Chris Zwaga, who owns Media Plus advertising agency, has said the ad was aired on the radio three or four times. The person who paid to air the ad also asked for it to be taken off the air, she said.

Zwaga has declined to reveal who paid for the ad.

Jones was on the March 5 ballot seeking a second term in District 4.

But he is trailing challenger Matt Plummer by 20-percentage points, according to the latest election results that came out Friday. County election officials are scheduled to release more results Tuesday afternoon.

In other business, Board of Supervisors meets Tuesday

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Shasta supervisors will receive a report from the county Elections Commission that recommends the board pass a local ordinance mandating ballots be tallied by hand.

If adopted, the ordinance would defy current state law that bans manual tallies in elections with more than 1,000 registered voters. There are more than 110,000 registered voters in Shasta County.

For the latest updates on the board meeting, go to Redding.com.

More: 'People are fed up': Power shift coming if Tuesday's Shasta supervisors' results hold

Supervisors also will get a report from the Elections Commission on vote-by-mail drop boxes.

Both recommendations have not been reviewed by the County Counsel’s office, county Executive Officer David Rickert states on the agenda item for Tuesday’s meeting.

Rickert’s report says this is an informational item and no vote will be taken.

However, he does state that “approving the recommendations and changing the number of the ballot drop boxes in the County or the security for them could result in future General Fund impact necessitating budget amendments.”

Tuesday’s meeting starts at 9 a.m. in the supervisors’ chamber on Court Street in downtown Redding.

David Benda covers business, development and anything else that comes up for the USA TODAY Network in Redding. He also writes the weekly "Buzz on the Street" column. He’s part of a team of dedicated reporters that investigate wrongdoing, cover breaking news and tell other stories about your community. Reach him on X, formerly Twitter @DavidBenda_RS or by phone at 1-530-338-8323. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: KQMS radio: California Secretary of State investigating election ad