As our own Chris Farris recently reported, HD-80 candidate Keith Gross (D-Unknown) has had a protest filed against his candidacy concerning his actual state of residency and if he even has a Georgia driver’s license. It seems that Gross, pictured here, also needs to talk to the webmaster of his campaign website, www.keithgross.com.
Prominently featured in the background of each page is the Official Seal of Georgia. That is a violation of O.C.G.A. § 50-3-32(c), which states:
(c) Except as otherwise authorized by Code Section 50-3-31 or subsection (b) of this Code section, it shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, or campaign committee to use or display the great seal or a facsimile of the state emblem on or in connection with any campaign poster, sign, or advertisement for election to any public office in such a manner as to falsely suggest or imply that the person on whose behalf the same is used is at the time a holder of a public office for which a commission bearing said seal is used.
Is he “falsely suggesting” that he is holding office? That, admittedly, is debatable. But the best way to avoid questions like this is to not have it there in the first place. Violation of this code section is a misdemeanor.
[H/T: Atlanta Public Affairs]
[UPDATE - 16 May 2008] The Official Seal of Georgia has been removed from the website. At least one criminal violation has been fixed!
10 responses so far ↓
Mike Hauncho // May 15, 2008 at 9:05 am
Would this site be in violation as well?
http://www.danielblackman.com/
Mike Hauncho // May 15, 2008 at 9:07 am
Is this website in violation?
http://www.danielblackman.com/
Decaturguy // May 15, 2008 at 9:21 am
I’ll ask some of the same questions here abotu who this guy is that I put out on my blog and have yet to get an explanation:
(1) Mr. Gross has a LinkedIn profile in which he claims to be President/CEO of Opifer Group, Inc., however, there is no such corporation registered with the Georgia Secretary of State and if you simply Google that name, you don’t get much info.
(2) Mr. Gross, who is only 24 years old, claims to have started and sold “a few businesses including a Computer / IT / Security firm in FL, A Chocolate Company in San Francisco, CA; A Steakhouse in the suburbs of Washington, DC.,” but yet there seems to be very little information on the web about any of this, despite that a 24 year old accomplishing so much would be quite remarkable.
I’m not saying that any of this is not true, but if he is claiming these accomplishments as a qualification for office, I would like to know a little bit more about them and how he did it before the age of 22 if he claims to have been a Georgia resident for the past 2 years.
ugadog // May 15, 2008 at 9:53 am
Didn’t realize Republicans were concerned about Jacobs losing this seat. Good to know.
Bill Simon // May 15, 2008 at 9:57 am
UGAdog,
We just don’t like frauds running for public office. I know in your party, that’s a prerequisite to be a Member in Good Standing.
Chris Farris // May 15, 2008 at 10:10 am
UGA, they way things are going, were worried anyone could lose their seat. Most of them deserve too.
Decaturguy // May 15, 2008 at 10:40 am
It’s a 50-50 seat. A seat Sonny Perdue won, but also Jim Martin and John Kerry won.
So, of course Republicans are afraid they could lose this seat against the right Democratic candidate.
But this 24-year old?
johnmartinforafreegeorgia // May 15, 2008 at 12:11 pm
A couple of google’s and you get:
“I will be at Chris’ Steakhouse, in Old Town Gaithersburg, Maryland this evening to watch the Oscars with openly Gay owner Keith Gross and his partner Ben Cavanaugh. We expect a bunch of other people as well. Check out their Web site, by the way, at http://www.hotbeercoldfood.com. And if you are in the area, let me know and maybe we can have dinner there! Tell your server you qualify for the 10% family discount. ”
From: http://www.chirhopress.com/newsletter_archive/2006_archieve_files/newsletter_VII_No_4.html (March 5, 2006). Just a little over 2 years ago.
Rogue109 // May 15, 2008 at 5:56 pm
From Southern Voice:
http://www.sovo.com/2008/5-9/news/localnews/8517.cfm
“Gross touts his experience in business as one of his prime qualifications for office. Gross has been building, buying and selling businesses since age 14. While attending a Panama City high school, he incorporated a tech support company that held a number of contracts. Once he sold his first company, he said he used the profits to begin buying failing companies, often restaurants, turning them around and selling for a profit.”
Jessica // May 15, 2008 at 9:35 pm
I wonder which Panama City high school he went to. Probably easy to verify more claims given that info.