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Kid Rock responds to claims Senate run would break the law: 'Go f**k yourselves'

The musician has long been toying with the idea of vying for a senate seat in Michigan 

Clarisse Loughrey
Saturday 02 September 2017 11:13 BST
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Watchdog group Common Cause has filed a complaint over concerns Kid Rock's potential Senate run would be in violation of federal-election laws.

The musician has been publicly toying with the idea of vying for a seat in Michigan for a while, but Common Cause has urged Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to investigate whether Kid Rock, real name Robert Ritchie, has violated the law by acting as a Senate candidate without officially registering his candidacy.

Beyond frequently tweeting about the idea, Kid Rock has gone as far as even setting up a website - kidrockforsenate.com - on which he sells merchandise emblazoned with the words, "Kid Rock for US Senate '18".

Indeed, Common Cause also named Kid Rock's label, Warner Bros. Records, as also violating federal law and commissions regulations by offering such merchandise for sale. The group further states that the musician has not complied with contributions restrictions or publicly disclosed contributions to his campaign.

"Given the activities we’ve documented in the complaint, he can’t reasonably claim to be merely testing the waters of candidacy and thus exempt from candidate filing requirements," said Common Cause VP of policy and litigation Paul S. Ryan. "He is a candidate and is obligated to abide by all the rules and make the same disclosures required of everyone else running for federal office."

In response, Kid Rock released a statement to his website that read merely: "I am starting to see reports from the misinformed press and the fake news on how I am in violation of breaking campaign law. #1 I have still not officially announced my candidacy. #2 See #1 and go f*ck yourselves."

You can read Common Cause's full complaint here.

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