Evan Low's congressional campaign hit with election complaint

There’s a new twist in the closely watched congressional race to replace retiring Representative Anna Eshoo. It's down to former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo and California Assemblyman Evan Low.

Ann Ravel, former chair of the Federal Election Commission and a vocal supporter of Liccardo's, has filed a complaint with the FEC, raising questions about Low's campaign disclosures.

Ravel filed a complaint with the FEC, alleging the national nonprofit, Stand with Asian Americans, or SWAA may have contributed its email list and other non-monetary donations to low's campaign. Donations which were not publicly disclosed by the campaign.

“All I did was say I think its erroneous,” she said. “I think its problematic, and I would like to see you investigate it when you have the opportunity because the election is coming up and it’s important for the public to know this.”

The evidence she submitted? A February Low campaign email that went out to a "Stand with Asian Americans email list" and shared with NBC Bay Area. The complaint alleges a hyperlink in that email took users to a site hosted by SWAA.

Ravel added that because Stand with Asian Americans is a nonprofit, it would be barred from making any kind of contributions to any political campaign.

“It’s true that not Sam Liccardo himself, but one of his staff members reached out to me and wanted me to take a look at it because they wanted to make sure that whatever happened was done by someone who knew about the law,” she said.

The Low campaign fired back in a statement sent to NBC Bay Area on Monday, calling the complaint a "distraction" and meant to draw attention away from Liccardo and his campaign's conduct, which also has spurred two FEC complaints. They released the following statement:

"Sam Liccardo is once again deploying his supporters to make false accusations against our campaign - and distract from his own shady conduct. This is simply a case of a volunteer working in their personal capacity using the wrong hyperlink. The email list was purchased from the county registrar and reported by the campaign."

Leaders from Stand with Asian Americans called Ravel's allegations "categorically false.” They released their own following statement:

“Stand with Asian Americans (SwAA) is a strictly non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization and it is against our core policies to share, sell, or disclose any subscriber information to external entities, including political campaigns. SwAA has never provided email lists to the Low campaign. Any suggestion otherwise is categorically false and misrepresents our unwavering commitment to our community's privacy and trust.

We condemn Ms. Revel’s politically motivated and irresponsible accusations against SwAA, a civil rights organization fighting anti-Asian hate and discrimination. Ms. Revel failed to reach out to us to verify these allegations, which are easily proven false. Ms. Revel’s complaint, citing Evan’s attendance of a SwAA anti-Asian hate event as evidence of wrongdoing, is outrageous — we wonder if she would attack other minority advocacy organizations under similar circumstances.”

The outcomes of the dueling FEC complaints likely won't be known before the November election, said Melinda Jackson, a political science professor at San Jose State University. But she said, that's not the point. Simply filling the complaints can sway voter opinion.

“I think what we're seeing is some hardball tactics because it is going to be very close race,” Jackson said.

Liccardo's campaign released the following statement on Monday:

"Evan Low will do anything to further his political career, whether it’s breaking the law or taking money from Oil Companies, PG&E, or Private Prisons - It’s gotten so bad Barack Obama’s former FEC Chair is now calling him out, four years after the FPPC opened a still-ongoing investigation into him. Voters deserve better."

For her part, Ravel maintains her complaint to the FEC wasn't about politics or even this specific race.

“In this circumstance, I'm taking a stance for democracy and for transparency, and for making sure our election is fair,” she said.