Party chairman James Evans said he sent a complaint to the Internal Revenue Service on Friday, asking the agency to review the Salt Lake chapter's actions.
Jeanetta Williams, president of the Salt Lake chapter of the NAACP, did not return messages left on her cell phone Friday, but told KCPW radio that the group focuses on issues, not candidates.
"We seek people that support the work of civil rights organizations like the NAACP, and we can do that. That's what has been said and that's what we will do," said Williams.
In February, Buttars said of a school construction bill: “This baby is black, I'll tell you. It's a dark, ugly thing.” Williams called for Buttars' resignation. He refused, claimed a “hate lynch mob” was after him, and vowed to run for re-election, prompting Williams to promise to work to recruit and support an opponent for Buttars.
The Salt Lake chapter is organized as a nonprofit under section 501(c)(4) of the law for social welfare organizations. Such groups, according to IRS publications, are permitted to engage in political activity, as long as it is not the group's primary purpose.
But Evans says that Williams' activity goes too far, even if they are a 501(c)(4).
“Actively trying to recruit someone to run against a candidate, I think, crosses that line,” he said.
He said he doesn't know the extent of the group's activity - only that Williams said publicly they were going to defeat Buttars. But he said the IRS would be able to find out if it investigates.
Buttars fended off challenges from within the GOP to clinch the party's nomination at convention earlier this month.
John Rendell, the only Democrat running against Buttars, said after he filed for office he tried to contact the NAACP, but nobody returned his calls.
“There's been no contact between me and the NAACP at all,” he said.
The national chapter of the NAACP was investigated for a speech its president, Julian Bond, made in 2004, critical of President Bush who was at the time seeking re-election. The IRS eventually determined there was no wrongdoing.
And in 2005, Buttars was investigated and cleared of using his offices at Utah Boys Ranch - a 501(c)(3), which is prohibited from political activites - for political purposes.
