Political mailer in Denton mayor's race triggers call to secretary of state's office

The inclusion of the Denton city secretary’s notary seal on an election mailer in the Denton mayor’s race prompted city staff Thursday to send a clarifying email to City Council members and contact the Texas secretary of state’s office.

The mailer was paid for by Denton mayoral candidate Paul Meltzer’s campaign and includes campaign finance records for incumbent Mayor Gerard Hudspeth, the other candidate in the two-person race. Meltzer, the current mayor pro tem, provided a copy of the mailer when he was reached Thursday.

A Thursday morning email from city Chief of Staff Ryan Adams addressing council members stated the mailer included the image of City Secretary Rosa Rios’s notary seal, “positioned next to a statement that, in effect, endorses a candidate for election.”

“Staff would like to make it clear to the Council that neither Rosa nor the City provided permission for her seal to be used in any way, nor would we have,” the email reads. “City staff strive each day to ensure that the community views our services and employees as apolitical and unbiased.”

The email adds that Rios would be contacting the Texas Secretary of State’s Office to document the use of the seal without permission, “in an abundance of caution.” Thursday afternoon, city spokesperson Stuart Birdseye said Rios contacted the secretary of state by phone and was told “they would note it in their records.”

“We are unaware of any action their office could take,” Birdseye wrote in an email.

The mailer positioned Rios’ seal underneath text reading “Real Estate Special Interests Are Bankrolling Gerard Hudspeth.” Meltzer declined to answer specifics about the mailer, including whom it was sent out to, but said the seal was included to communicate the factualness of the campaign finance documents.

“These are drawn from true notarized public documents, and the notary seal communicates that these are from true notarized public documents — there’s no endorsement expressed or implied,” Meltzer said. “It is important for the public to know this public information, that a mayoral candidate has received tens of thousands of dollars from out-of-state industry special interests.”

Birdseye stated “a number of people” notified staff of the mailer, including Hudspeth, who was also reached Thursday and confirmed he had emailed Rios. He called her a “neutral party” and said the use of the seal could put her in a “difficult situation.”

“I don’t think it’s right for someone outside the process, charged with being fair and balanced, to be pulled into the process unbeknownst to them,” Hudspeth said. “That is what I regret the most.”

Hudspeth added that he has chosen not to notarize some of his campaign finance reports, which would stand in contrast to Meltzer’s explanation of why the notary seal was included. The copy of the mailer Meltzer provided includes seven separate donations from December 2020 to December 2021.

Six of the seven donations came from formally notarized finance reports. A $7,298.41 contribution from Austin-based TREPAC Association Realtors was included in Hudspeth’s January finance report, which was not officially notarized. Instead, he used his own name under the “unsworn declaration” option.

Early voting for the Denton mayoral race begins Monday, with election day on May 7.