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SALT LAKE CITY -- Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Mike Lee is being accused of working as a lobbyist last year without ever registering as a lobbyist.
A complaint was filed with the lieutenant governor's office concerning Lee's activities in 2009 as he listed 1-800 Contacts as a client. State Sen. Steve Urquhart pushed a trademark bill that 1-800 Contacts wanted to see passed, and Urquhart says he worked with a team of lobbyists including Mike Lee.
"He actually was a fairly effective lobbyist. I think he did well on it," says Urquhart. "Was he back there trying to help sell the bill? Yes is the answer."
State law requires lobbyists to register, and people can be fined for not doing so.
Mike Lee's spokesman responded to the accusations reported in the Salt Lake Tribune calling the complaint a last-minute smear of Lee's campaign. He even called Urquhart a henchman of his GOP Senate opponent Tim Bridgewater.
Urquhart says he's not taking sides in this issue and was surprised by the harsh words directed at him from Lee's campaign. Urquhart says he didn't know Lee wasn't registered as a lobbyist until recently and he was simply answering media questions about the 2009 bill.
Lee's campaign has said his work with 1-800 Contacts was not as a lobbyist and he cleared the issue with the lieutenant governor's office a year ago.
The Tribune also reports Lee's spokesperson says this is an attempt to hide Bridgewater's record of lobbying.
Bridgewater did register as a lobbyist in Congress in behalf of a foreign company, but he says he never ended up doing any lobbying work.
E-mail: rjeppesen@ksl.com
