This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

I was watching CBS' "60 Minutes" on Sunday when an ad appeared urging viewers to thank Sen. Mike Lee for the bang-up job he has done in his first term.

The Utah Republican, the ad said, will make our roads and schools better because of his conservative agenda.

It seemed odd to be watching a political ad during an off-year election.

Then came the kicker: The spot was paid for by Citizens United, the right-wing super political action committee that won a landmark case in the U.S. Supreme Court. That 2010 ruling allows independent PACs to raise and spend unlimited sums to promote or defeat political hopefuls as long as the money doesn't go directly to candidate campaign funds and the group is not coordinating with those campaigns.

Super PACs such as Citizens United, FreedomWorks and Club for Growth have used that decision to spend hundreds of millions on candidates they favor.

Tycoons such as Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson have funneled tens of millions of dollars into these super PACs, which not only use the money to promote certain candidates, but also to trash ones they oppose — all in the name of free speech.

It turns out, the Citizens United ad is part of an ongoing $200,000 television and social media blitz at a time when Lee hasn't even officially announced whether he will seek re-election next year.

According to what Citizens United President David Bossie said in an Associated Press story, the ads are not intended to boost Lee's re-election. "We just felt like it was time to celebrate Mike Lee's ideas and make sure that the people of Utah understood that he is a real leader with a real positive agenda and that they should recognize him for it."

How generous.

Bossie said that in a news release, suggesting Citizens United wants to get the word out about how much money it is willing to spend on its boy, especially to potential Republican foes of Utah's freshman senator.

Some super PACs took credit for ousting former three-term Sen. Bob Bennett, who was more popular among the wider Utah electorate than his successor, Lee.

Lee's campaign told the AP that it was surprised by the third-party independent ads on his behalf. After all, it's illegal for the campaign and PAC to work together. Just ask Tyler Harber, a political operative whom Lee's campaign hired to raise money during the 2014 midterm election cycle. Harber recently pleaded guilty to illegally coordinating fundraising efforts between a different congressional campaign committee and a super PAC.

But, hey, it's all aboveboard. Just ask Lee mentor Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, who has been a guest of the billionaire Koch brothers and a champion of the Citizens United decision.

Profile in courage • After hearing of former Utah Gov. Norm Bangerter's death last week, Mary Hammon, a past PTA officer and lobbyist, shared a story about his political pluck.

The state's 13th governor faced fierce protests to his proposal for the largest tax increase in Utah history to save public education.

The last night of the legislative session, after Hammon and her lobbying parter thanked Bangerter for his fight to boost public schools, they went to the House gallery to watch the final contentious vote on the tax hike.

Their bags and pockets were checked by armed guards, who told them the extreme caution was because the governor had received threats. Utah Highway Patrol troopers offered to walk Hammon and her companion to their cars after the vote, because they had been part of the coalition pushing the increase and they, too, could be in danger.

"Unless you were there that night," Hammon wrote, " … no one understands just how brave, valiant and noble our governor was."

Speaking of threats • During a last-night session of the 2002 Legislature, the Republican-dominated body was poised to pass the Utah Dream Act. It would allow noncitizen children who spent most of their lives in Utah and graduated from area schools to attend state colleges with in-state tuition.

Anti-immigrant fanatics were apoplectic, and one of them sent a flurry of notes to several female representatives meeting in a closed House caucus, threatening their political careers if they voted for the measure.

Finally, then-House Majority Whip David Ure stepped out of the caucus and told the man if he sent one more threatening note, "I'll kick the crap out of you."

"Security, security," the man hollered as he ran down the hall and out of the Capitol, not to be seen again that night.