SD 10 candidate Owen Hill
There has been no love lost between Owen Hill and Larry Liston, and though both have flung all manner of accusations back and forth, the law has never been invoked before. Until now.
Owen Hill’s lawyer, Michael Francisco, of Rothgerber Johnson and Lyons LLP, sent a letter to the general sales manager of radio stations KBIQ, KZNT and KGFT on Friday, demanding that a radio ad allegedly from Liston’s campaign be taken off the air. Hill, a non-profit executive, and Liston, a state representative, are competing for the Republican nomination in Senate District 10.
Francisco wrote to Jon Cobb, the manager of the three stations, saying that the ad from Liston claimed that Hill had “moved to his father-in-law’s couch” because his own home was outside the boundaries of SD 10.
“This claim is patently false,” Francisco wrote to Cobb. “For the sake of FCC licensing requirements and the public interest, your stations should immediately cease airing this advertisement.”
Neither Liston nor Cobb immediately responded to calls for comment, and the language of the ad could not be immediately verified, but Liston has long contended that Hill moved deceptively from one district to another for political reasons.
State Rep. Larry Liston, R-Colorado Springs
Liston’s campaign used the same language on a political mailer. The mailer read, “Owen Hill will say and do anything to get elected.”
Underneath that, it read, “Owen Hill lied about where he lives to run for office. He has said he’s living on his father-in-law’s couch… He has even lied on sworn affidavits to the secretary of state to keep up his lie.”
Francisco threatens Cobb indirectly, and cites legal precedent that any station that broadcasts “false and misleading advertising” can lose its FCC license.
“I expect your immediate attention and swift removal of the ad,” Francisco wrote.
Hill originally filed last year to run for office in House District 16, but changed his mind and filed to run in SD 10. Both filings list the same mailing address — on Pennsylvania St. — but the SD 10 filing lists his physical address as one on Madison St. Both addresses are within the boundaries of SD 10.
Wow this race is heating up like all the others in town!
New ad: “Owen Hill threatens Radio stations with the FCC to prevent you from hearing his opponents ad. Is Own Hill against Free Speech?”
From Owen Hill’s attorney: “For the sake of FCC licensing requirements and the public interest, your stations should immediately cease airing this advertisement.”
Wow. I honestly don’t know anything about the veracity of the ad, but Owen Hill threatening the stations’ licensing tells me a lot.
This really makes me wonder about Owen Hill’s maturity and understanding of the First Amendment. If he can’t stand the heat, he needs to avoid the kitchen and not hide behind his lawyer and threats.
Seriously off-putting. Yuck.
Why is Mr. Hill not living in his home? Is his home rented to someone else? Something is not right here.
Carlos,
Hill is living in his home. A while back, Owen was in the process of moving from his home to the home where his in-laws live. He even put his house up on the market. However, things changed, and this move no longer became possible, and Owen took his home off the market.
Nothing illegal or unethical. Except by Larry Liston, who is lying and implying that Owen is not a legal candidate.
And if there was something unethical or illegal, don’t you think Wayne Williams (El Paso Clerk and Recorder), Scott Gessler (Colorado Secretary of State), or Eli Bremer (El Paso GOP Chairman) would have done something about it?
Sheila and Julius,
Don’t be ridiculous. The “threat” is not something of our imagination, but rather an FCC requirement. And there is a difference between lying about a candidate’s positions (which Liston is doing), and accusing someone of a crime (which Liston is doing as well). We’re not interested in getting Larry Liston’s ads completely pulled from the radio stations in question. We just want Liston to stop lying about Hill’s legal status as a candidate.
I know that lying is protected by the 1st Amendment, but accusing someone of a crime takes lying to a new level. But it seems you two think that just because a lie is protected, it is therefore appropriate. It is not, and regardless of if the action requested by Owen’s attorney is appropriate, you should be appalled by Liston’s blatant deception.
maybe OWEN HILL doesn’t like LIES and misconception.. As far as I am concerned I am totally fed up with all the negativity from EVERY POLITICIAN. From OBAMA ,to LISTON, to LAMBORN . please focus on WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO. I don;t care what your opponent did 20 year ago, I don;t care what color his Pajamas are WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR US.??? You waste millions bashing your opponent and we the voters don;t have a clue WHO YOU ARE or WHAT YOU STAND FOR..
I agree, imcookie. That’s what Owen has been trying to do. We’re willing to compare records and political stances with Liston any day. Apparently this isn’t something Liston wants to do. It was a huge disappointment to have to deal with nonsense like this and to distract from our message of conservatism.
Owen Hill has filed to run in 3 races in less than 2 years. He lost his first race, at the age of 28 to democrat John Morse for senate 11. He did not want to run in HD 18 as that is too much work, so he lied about where he lived in order to run in district that is easier to win, as it has a higher Republican count and that is HD 16, Then senate 10 opened up with the reaaportionment and he dropped HD 16 like a hot rock and jumped in on senate 10. See C.S Independent- ” Owen Hill’s two houses.”
Hill has consistently lied about where he lives, even signed a sworn affidavit, continues to lie about his opponent’s voting record, ( which is documented and a recorded vote) hoping the voters are too stupid or too lazy to check it out. I have checked. Larry Liston is the person who should be hiring the attorney. LOL
Isaih, Hill has told more lies than I can keep track of. Owen Hill is the one who committed the crime by signing a sworn affidavit that he lived at his in’law’s home when he did not. That has been proven and the affidavit that he signed is a matter of public record, check with the election department. He has now changed back to the Madison street address where he has always lived, because had he voted the ballot of the false address Pennsylvania Ave , he could have been charged with a class 6 felony and voter fraud. He did all of this as he wants the path of least resistance to the state house, he does not want to have to EARN it, he feels entitled.
Total hypocrisy, Owen Hill touts freedom, liberty and up-holding the constitution yet wants to call out the lawyer’s when he does not like that the truth is being told about him. Hey Owen, ever hear of the 1st Amendment??
At the ripe old age of 30 I would think that Owen Hill would know about the 1st amendment, maybe not. It’s called freedom of speech. LOL
Read it and weep: This is public record, anyone with a reading comprehension of a 2nd grader can figure this one out. Owen Hill is an opportunist and a carpet bagger: Don’t believe this: check the El County Election department this is all documented. He has filed to run in 3 races in less than 2 years, signed a sworn affidavit to a false address and continues to lie about his apponent, you vote for this guy and you deserve everything you are going to get. If the candidate is lying now, you can only imagine the lies you are going to get should he be elected.
http://www.csindy.com/coloradosprings/hills-second-home/Content?oid=2477272
Another public record link, notice the address change from the Madison address to the Pennsylvania address, he never had any intention of moving his wife and 4 children into a 3 bedroom, 1 bath home with his 2 in-laws. He did it so he could run in HD 16, which he saw as an easier district to win.
http://tracer.sos.colorado.gov/PublicSite/SearchPages/CandidateSearch.aspx?CSRT=2764156630251503250
Owen Hill is a classic example of Blind Ambition. He is pure ego, slamming a decent and common sense guy like Larry Liston in ways that are grossly dishonest.
Anyone who wants political position as bad as this guy is someone who should be kept from any political office.
Keep Liston, and chase this Owen Hill out of town. He will find some sort of venue from which to run for office, and maybe he will be elected. But egomaniacs such as this guy see themselves as president one day. We have one of them in the White House right now.
Hill no. Liston yes.
Leaper, you clearly can’t pay attention to fact. So what that Owen has filed for 3 races? So what? The move was planned for some time, and had nothing to do with the house district. That statement is only in the imagination of Liston and his hacks (of which you are one).
As for Owen’s lies, care to list them? Oh, yeah, that list is ZERO entries long.
And since you like freedom of speech so much, why are you attacking Owen Hill’s supposed lies? Wait, I forgot; you only like free speech when it helps liberals (e.g. Liston).
Jay, do you really like Liston this much when he has a record of:
•In 2011, received a 48.00% rating from the Colorado Union of Taxpayers (100.00% is perfect), meaning he was only ahead of Democrats Pete Lee and John Morse from the El Paso legislative delegation (www.coloradotaxpayer.org)
•Voted to implement Obamacare in Colorado, and do so on a compressed timeframe (SB200)
•Voted to implement cap-and-trade in Colorado (HB1365)
•Voted to give Hollywood a $3 million subsidy (HB1286)
•Voted against Right to Work (HB1267)
•Supports taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood (http://www.pprmaf.org/larry-liston.html)
•Held in-person fundraiser with lobbyists from Planned Parenthood, NARAL, the ACLU, big labor, and others (http://www.owenhill.org/larry-liston-lobbyist-donor-fundraiser/)
•Sided with Democrats against Republicans on a marijuana bill (http://blogs.denverpost.com/thespot/2012/04/30/brouhaha-house-committee-leds-reassignment-apology-grumpy-lawmaker/69602/)
And your attack on Owen as someone “who wants political position as bad as this guy” is very hypocritical. Liston is already in office, and he wants to stay in office longer. If we give Liston this position, he will likely be in the state legislature for 16 years. And you have the audacity to go after Owen as the politically ambitious one?
As for ego, I know both Liston and Hill, and the one with gross ego is Liston. Liston desperately wants to keep him and his friends in power, and he will do anything to do that.
You Liston hacks are so funny. Fortunately most SD10 voters are smarter than this.
Leaper, your idea of what Owen did relies on speculation in a CS Indy article. That’s it. Your idea is just a conspiracy theory that you hope sticks in the court of public opinion because it would never hold up in a court of law.
But since we like the CS Indy so much, how about this? http://www.csindy.com/IndyBlog/archives/2012/06/15/owen-hill-liston-lying-in-radio-ads&cb=42ecd90e6ea843ef7fc43af8a24ee663&sort=desc#readerComments
Oh, I forgot: you only like the CS Indy when it helps your cause.
Leaper and Jay, some more food for thought on “political ambition”:
The ad referenced above also attacks Owen Hill for supporting E-Verify, but without calling E-Verify by it’s name. The ad calls it “big government mandates”. Okay, so we’re already being less than honest about what we’re talking about. But here’s the kicker: Liston says he supports E-Verify. So we have a candidate (Liston) so desperate to win that he will attack his opponent (Hill) for holding a position that he himself holds. Pathetic.
Also, it really is incredible that a campaign is now relying on a conspiracy theory in order to win. You don’t have a single sworn affadavit, relevant witnesses, etc. to prove why Hill moved. Without that, you can’t prove criminal intent, and without proving criminal intent, you can’t prove your case.
Owen Hill told me, as well as other people I know, that he was moving into his father-in-laws “basement” as his house was too small for his large family. Good story, except his in-laws do not have a basement in their house. It was obvious that he was moving so he could run for HD 16, as he believed that his residence, on Madison Street, was going to be moved into District 18 by the reapportionment. He was doing this to take the “path of least resistance” thinking his chances were better to get elected in HD 16 instead of running against Rep. Lee (D) in 18. He did file w/Secretary of State that his physical and mailing address was on Pennsylvania, his in-laws residence. He got caught in a lie and is not to be trusted. He has lied about his residence, he has lied about Rep. Liston’s voting record and does not have the integrity to become a State Senator. Isaiah has fallen for Hill’s lies and believes he needs to promote them.
I am certainly not going to vote for someone who is only 30 years old–as a state senator. That’s someone that has very little experience with private sector and government issues.
Isaiah,
Why in heaven’s name would a “conservative” challenge a conservative incumbant in a primary? What do the voters gain other than the spectacle of watching dirt get thrown around? Worse, it is a waste of money and it pits neighbor against neighbor.
Your Owen Hill is a disaster. Mean spirited and nasty.
Who needs a man like that representing us?
Jay,
There is no incumbent. Liston is seeking a promotion from the state house to the state senate. Try getting your facts right.
And Liston is not a conservative. Your clearly aren’t either, because I presented Liston’s record to you, and you still call him a conservative. Hill is a conservative, and his list of endorsements by reliable conservatives (Schultheis, Lambert, Neville, Joshi, Armstrong, Holbert, Brophy, and Harvey) proves it.
Hill is not being mean. Liston is the one stooping to personal attacks. Hill has yet to make a single personal attack on Liston. All we’ve done is talk about Liston’s voting record and things he’s said regarding his political views. We have no need to get personal. Liston must, because he cannot let people see his liberal voting record.
If pointing out one’s record is “mean-spririted and nasty”, I don’t want to hear a single comment from you about Owen Hill. You aren’t attacking Hill on his record – you are landing below-the-belt blows. We are sticking to Liston’s record. You, as a Liston hack, must resort to distractions. The voters of SD10 do not like government take-overs of health care and the energy industry; they like consistency on E-Verify; they like lower taxes; and they like Republicans who don’t vote with Democrats half the time. I just described Liston for you. And I’m sure you’ll still see this as “mean”.
Kitchen Table,
I understand your concern about Owen Hill being fairly young. I’m supporting Owen, but I’ll admit that when possible, I’ll take the older individual. However, consider the following:
1. Our Founding Fathers said that 30 was an appropriate age to serve as U.S. Senator. That’s far more powerful than a state senator.
2. If Owen Hill was running against Mark Udall, would you still vote for Udall? I doubt it. This shows us that political views matter more than age. With Owen, we have a staunch conservative supported by reliable conservatives who have been around the block a few times: Bill Armstrong, Dave Schultheis, Kent Lambert, Tim Neville, Janak Joshi, Chris Holbert, Ted Harvey, and Greg Brophy. With Liston, we have someone who, in 2011, voted with Democrats more often than conservatives, who voted to implement Obamacare, who voted for cap-and-trade and thereby raising our utility bills, voted to give millions to Hollywood, etc.
Clearly Liston’s experience hasn’t done him much good if he’ll vote like a liberal.
Patriot,
The only one stuck in anything is you. You are still stuck on your conspiracy theory from several months ago. If you check out what has happened since then, you’ll see that Owen is completely in the clear. Just check out the CS Indy, which apparently you think is a reliable source: http://www.csindy.com/coloradosprings/hills-second-home/Content?oid=2477272
The fact that you and so many of your other pals on this page feel it necessary to continue to resort to personal attacks based on a conspiracy theory proves that your actual message is not resonating with voters.
There is absolutely no way I would vote for someone who is only 30 years old for a state senator. Trying to compare our forefathers who’s life span was 40 to today’s youth is ridiculous. The ONLY thing Owen Hill has going for him is he was a graduate of the Air Force Academy. BIG DEAL! We have an inexperienced Harvard graduate sitting in the oval office, and he has been a complete disaster.
Isaiah needs to do more research on Rep. Listons votes in committee and on the floor. Hill’s campaign keeps altering the facts. They said Liston voted for Ref. C when he did not. There is now a letter fm Grover Norquist stating this was investigated and that any implication that Liston supported Ref. C is a lie. And get off the Obamacare issue. You are referring to SB200 and it is NOT Obamacare. Do you really thing Attorney General Suthers, who is fighting Obamacare in the US Supreme Court, would throw his support behind SB200 and Liston if it was similar?? And the statements are not personal attacks against Hill. They are facts and they point out the legal implications with his filing. Or do you prefer to work with and support someone that violates the law? And when you mentioned supporters, you forgot Douglas Bruce. You know, our convicted tax evader. What’s that saying……….birds of a feather….??
Patriot agreed 100%–again showing the “inexperience of this 30 year old”-Owen Hill -who doesn’t understand the difference between a procedural vote to bring a bill to the floor for a vote–and an actual vote. Liston voted against Ref. C.. twice.
It’s very telling that either Owen himself or one of his campaign people would log on to this site and argue with EVERY SINGLE person that mentions a concern about the young man. And I do mean young man. He has no experience except for losing, and is trying to win so hard that he’s tearing apart the party to do it. All for what? Self recognition? We certainly don’t need a “more conservative” senator than Larry, who’s done nothing but make Colorado better for small business. All of owen’s childish actions and accusations against Larry prove he’s the wrong guy for the job, and make him seem like a whining liar to boot. I’ve heard Owen’s campaign say that Larry supports planned parenthood because of a vote on an amendment that happened before the full vote; that tells me that either Owen thinks we’re all too stupid to understand how things work in the House, or he’s too immature to tell the truth! Either way, Owen Hill is wrong for Colorado Springs, and should find some accomplishments to list on his very short resume other than “ran for office & lost” every other year. BTW, “isaiah” or should I say “Owen”? By constantly attacking everyone who doesn’t support Owen, I have to wonder what it will be like to call him if he wins, to tell him his ideas won’t work for me? I’ve done that with Larry, who explained himself, and also listened to me and my concerns. That’s what it means to do this job, representing the people who live in the district.