For days, longshot Oregon House candidate Sharon Nasset has denied any role in a knockoff voters' guide that spread mysteriously through parts of North and Northeast Portland.

"It's inappropriate. It's not something I would do," Nasset said of the pamphlet, which attacks House Speaker Tina Kotek, her opponent in the May 17 Democratic primary. "It's not something I have done."

But in a

Tuesday, obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive, the Oregon Secretary of State's Office accused Nasset of knowing more than she says she does.

"Based on information available to us," Secretary of State Jeanne Atkins wrote, "we believe you may be able to identify the source of the confusingly similar and potentially misleading 'voters' pamphlet guide.'"

Why so confident? After comparing the knockoff guide with materials Nasset submitted for the state's official voter pamphlet last month, officials found seven sections that were either entirely the same or included several identical sentences.

Nasset's materials were left out of the state pamphlet after she failed to pay a required $750 fee by a March 10 deadline.

"It appears that someone who had access to your originally intended official voters' pamphlet statement was also the source for the statement contained in the unofficial 'voters' pamphlet guide,'" Atkins wrote.

In an interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive, Nasset said a volunteer associated with a group called Wolf PAC, Will Yate, had helped her edit campaign materials. She said she also widely shared her would-be voter statement with supporters and family members.

"Anybody could have picked it up anywhere," Nasset said. "What they're doing, they're doing without my consent."

In correspondence obtained by the The Oregonian/OregonLive last week, state officials identified Yate, mistakenly calling him Tate, as a volunteer for Nasset's campaign. Officials said he visited the secretary of state's office in early April, hoping to add Nasset to the official pamphlet after the deadline, but before it was printed.

Yate hung up without comment Monday after learning he was speaking with a reporter from The Oregonian/OregonLive. He has not returned messages seeking comment since.

On a Google message board for Oregon supporters of Wolf PAC, a national movement pushing for campaign finance reform, Yate responded to a question about the group's involvement by answering "not to worry."

He also accused Kotek of governing like a Republican and opposing efforts to strip money from politics.

Wolf PAC members singled out Kotek in the waning days of the 2016 legislative session -- holding protest signs outside her office -- after it became clear a resolution asking Congress for a campaign finance constitutional convention wouldn't see a floor vote.

Nationally, Wolf PAC has ties to progressive web personality Cenk Uygar, host of The Young Turks.

"Give me a ring and I'll explain how you can join the fight," Yate wrote. "Evil only wins when the good guys do nothing."

Despite media stories about the phony pamphlets, and despite an earlier cease-and-desist letter from Atkins, they continued to appear in Kotek's district through the weekend.

That came even after Nasset said she wished they included information revealing who paid for them.

Then, on Monday, something changed.

Cards that looked nothing the knockoff pamphlets, but with the same criticisms of Kotek and praise for Nasset, also began showing up, according to residents in House District 44.

This time, they listed who paid for the cards -- a group called Americans Take Action. A national group with that name appears to have the same mission as Wolf PAC. Both groups, on Facebook, share each other's messages and videos.

Nasset on Tuesday night said she was glad someone had put their name on the fliers and maintained she still didn't know anything about them.

She also talked up her years of activism in North Portland on transportation issues such as opposing the Columbia River Crossing and promoting small business development.

"I'm still putting my own signs in yards," Nasset said. Kotek "isn't even putting any signs up."

-- Denis C. Theriault

503-221-8430; @TheriaultPDX