Reps. Judy Clibborn and Tana Senn filed an ethics complaint with the Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) against Sen. Steve Litzow for alleged inappropriate use of their names and photos in his political campaign advertising on Oct. 10, according to a press release.

Clibborn and Senn serve as the state representatives for the 41st Legislative District, and have endorsed Lisa Wellman, who is challenging Litzow for the state Senate seat in the same district. All four live in Mercer Island.

Election laws state that a candidate needs permission to use someone’s photograph because of the implied endorsement of that candidate by the person in the photo, according to the release.

“I am not in any way supporting Senator Litzow. He needs to respect his colleagues who fully support his opponent and cease and desist,” Clibborn stated in the release.

According to the complaint, one of Litzow’s ads implies Senn endorses Litzow, and that he worked with her on equal pay legislation.

“Steve never worked with me on equal pay legislation. In addition, it’s well known that I have endorsed his opponent, Lisa Wellman. I did not, at any time, agree to be in his campaign materials,” Senn stated.

The gender wage gap “should not be used as an expedient political pawn,” Senn stated.

“It impacts the financial health of thousands of women across the state, as well as our overall economy. Litzow needs to apologize for this ethical lapse and remove my name and image from any and all of his campaign materials,” Senn stated.

However, Litzow denies these assertions.

“It is unfortunate that my opponent is making false accusations about public images rather than addressing the issues,” Litzow said in a statement. “There is no merit whatsoever to their complaint, which clearly ignores the plain language of the law and its interpretation by the courts.”

He said he is “extremely proud” of his work with his Democratic seat mates Clibborn, Senn and Gov. Jay Inslee “towards making historic investments in education and transportation and our efforts to ensure equal pay for women.”

He also noted that voting records show that of the 732 votes the three 41st District legislators have taken together in the past two years, Clibborn and Inslee voted 99 percent of the time with Litzow and Senn 98 percent of the time with him.

“I am running a campaign based on my bi-partisan accomplishments and the issues that are important to the 41st District,” his statement continues.

Litzow added that Clibborn has had photos of him on her campaign website http://judyclibborn.com/gallery/campaignphotos/ “for months,” along with photos of her with Republican state senators.

“I do not view those photos of Rep. Clibborn and me to imply that I endorse her re-election campaign or that any of those other senators endorse her,” Litzow added. “She is obviously proud of the hard work our bi-partisan group of legislators completed to pass a transportation improvement package that is important to the 41st District and the state.”