An ethics watchdog group says they pressured Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis to officially file his candidacy; but the campaign says it was simply time.

No matter what the reason, the former congressman, of Grand Junction, filed his candidate affidavit with the Secretary of State on Tuesday, bringing to an end weeks of allegations by Colorado Ethics Watch that he was violating campaign finance law.

Accusations

The group said McInnis was violating campaign finance law by soliciting campaign funds before filing his candidate affidavit. They also accused McInnis of coordinating with a 527 political organization, which is illegal under federal law.

Despite statements from his campaign staff that Mr. McInnis would announce his candidacy on his own terms, his secret filing makes it obvious that he caved under pressure from Ethics Watch, said Chantell Taylor, director of Ethics Watch.

Ethics Watch requested an investigation by Secretary of State Bernie Buescher, which never happened. The Secretary of State's office says it cannot launch an investigation until someone files a formal complaint.

Denials

A spokesman for McInnis said the campaign never solicited campaign funds, nor that it filed the affidavit on Tuesday in response to the Ethics Watch allegations. Mike Hesse, longtime McInnis spokesman, said it was simply time to officially file because interest was growing.

This enables us to capture this lightning in a bottle, he said. People that are really enthusiastically coming forward from all walks of life, now we can interact with them and get them going.

Hesse said Ethics Watch is trying to take credit for something they had nothing to do with.

In politics, people take credit for the sun coming up, he said.

Ethics Watch not-so liberal?

Ethics Watch has been accused of being a liberal-leaning group. But when accused of any bias, Ethics Watch points to concerns raised over Democrats as well, including Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey, Rep. Wesley McKinley, of Walsh, and Denver City Auditor Dennis Gallagher.

The McInnis campaign plans to register a candidate committee and then officially launch the campaign. Hesse said the campaign won't accept campaign donations until that time. He said people have only been offering to volunteer their time.

This most recent brush with allegations of violating campaign finance law is not McInnis' first. In 2005 he was investigated by the Federal Election Commission for paying his wife more than $145,000 for her work as campaign manager in 2004, when McInnis was not actively seeking office. The complaint was dismissed.

McInnis follows Evergreen businessman Dan Maes in announcing his bid for the Republican nod to challenge Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter for the governor's seat. Maes announced his bid in March.

Meanwhile, Michael Huttner, executive director of the liberal ProgressNow Colorado group, believes Ethics Watch convinced McInnis to file.

Everyone who believes that no politician should be above the law owes Ethics Watch a debt of thanks for holding McInnis accountable, said Huttner.

Taylor said questions still remain as to whether McInnis has already accepted campaign contributions.

"Where there is smoke there is fire; and Mr. McInnis' actions suggest that he has been skirting the law to avoid regulation and accountability," she said. "Clearly, a formal investigation by Secretary Buescher is still necessary."