Migden Sues FPPC Charging Campaign Finance Law UnconstitutionalRandy Shawbyline‚ Mar. 06‚ 2008In response to polls showing her trailing in her re-election campaign, State Senator Carole Migden filed suit on Tuesday to invalidate a voter-approved campaign finance law that she previously had supported. Although Migden voted in favor of placing Prop 34 on California’s 2000 ballot, she now claims the measure she backed unconstitutionally prevents her from spending $647,000 in the Senate race. Prop 34 barred such “intra-candidate transfers” – in which money collected for one race is spent on another. Now that she needs funds, Migden is asking the court to throw out these limits as an unconstitutional violation of free speech. The lawsuit may not play well in a district whose voters support campaign finance reform, and many are likely to be particularly unhappy that while the state faces a massive budget shortfall, Migden’s suit requests that taxpayers pay her attorneys fees. |