Is Sen. John Johnson using his podcast to skirt campaign finance law?

Utah State Sen. John Johnson, R-Ogden, frequently includes campaign ads for himself and other Republican candidates on his podcast. However, those ads or related costs are missing from his campaign finance disclosures.

Johnson hosts the PoliticIt podcast, which features softball interviews with Republican politicians and candidates. His campaign ads are played during most episodes' programming breaks. His ads are also included in video versions posted on YouTube and audio podcasts distributed on several platforms.

Johnson's disclosures do not show a payment to PoliticIt for including his campaign ad, nor is there an in-kind donation from the company. He also does not list any expenditures or in-kind contributions related to video production.

PoliticIt appears to be a separate entity from Johnson's campaign. He registered the business with the state in 2011 but dissolved the company in 2016.

Many of the videos end with a "Kevin Johnson Media logo." That company's registration with the state lapsed in 2020.

Utah campaign finance law requires that candidates disclose all donations to their campaigns. If the donation is not monetary, they must disclose the fair market value for such an expenditure.

Johnson frequently includes campaign ads promoting his guests in episodes, but many of those ads have also been omitted from campaign filings. Johnson's expenditures list donations to Republican State School Board candidates Cari Bartholomew and Joann Brinton, whose campaign ads were featured when they were guests on his show.

An ad for Republican Attorney General candidate Derek Brown was featured during his appearance on Johnson's show, but no corresponding transaction is annotated in campaign disclosures.

A banner ad soliciting donations for Republican gubernatorial candidate Carson Jorgensen, who was defeated in the April GOP convention, is still on the PoliticIt website. It has also not been disclosed.

Additionally, PoliticIt has spent several thousand dollars this year on Facebook advertising to increase the reach and viewership of Johnson's podcast.

Arguably, Johnson or other candidates don't see much benefit from including their ads in his show. The PoliticIt YouTube channel has fewer than 300 subscribers; most interviews get around 100 views.

Johnson did not respond to questions about why he did not include his campaign ads in his financial disclosures. Lt. Governor Diedre Henderson's office did not immediately respond to questions seeking clarification from Utah Political Watch.

Johnson is seeking his second 4-year term in the Utah Senate. A new poll suggests the race could be close heading into the final month of the 2024 election.

The online survey from Democratic pollster Change Research gives Johnson an 11-point lead over his opponent, Democrat Stacy Bernal (44%-33%), with 20% of voters undecided. The Utah Donor Collaborative commissioned the poll.

After the respondents were exposed to positive and negative messaging about the candidates, the poll showed the race was a toss-up, with both candidates receiving 45% support.

The FiveThirtyEight pollster rating for Change Research is 1.4 stars out of three. In 2021, FiveThirtyEight gave the firm a "B-minus" grade and noted that it correctly predicted 75% of races.

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