May 18, 2010, 12:00 AM
Demon Sheep ain't cheap. According to new spending data released by the Federal Election Commission, bizarro campaign ad man Fred Davis – the brains behind the infamous Demon Sheep and Hot Air ads for Carly Fiorina's GOP Senate campaign – has been the big winner so far in...
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May 12, 2010, 12:07 AM
Maybe it's fitting that in a year where the top of the June primary ticket is stacked with Silicon Valley executives, a number of new Web tools are appearing to help California voters track the money flowing to their elected officials like never before. In addition to the always-useful Cal...
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May 6, 2010, 12:06 AM
California politicians ran afoul of state ethics and campaign finance laws 721 times last year for violations ranging from not reporting gifts from lobbyists to failing to disclose campaign contributions, according to a report released this week by the California Fair Political Practices Commission...
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May 6, 2010, 12:05 AM
Programs designed by the national political parities to protect vulnerable incumbents are largely succeeding in boosting incumbent campaign war chests, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics. "So far this cycle, the 41 Frontline Democrats and 25 NRCC Patriots have...
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April 29, 2010, 12:06 AM
Her ties to Goldman Sachs may have slowed her momentum, but GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman is coming off a successful quarter – at least when it comes to campaign finance. In the three months ending April 26, Whitman raised an impressive $23.3* million, state records show. ...
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April 23, 2010, 12:06 AM
Two Democratic-led campaign finance reform bills – designed to blunt the impact of January's landmark Supreme Court decision allowing corporate contributions – were supposed to be introduced yesterday, but will be delayed until next week, as some Republicans have expressed...
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April 12, 2010, 12:05 AM
The Fair Political Practices Commission last week denied a petition filed by a coalition of local government groups challenging the commission's authority to prohibit them from using tax money to persuade voters to support local bond measures. Photo by David Siqueira The LA Times...
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April 9, 2010, 12:06 AM
Nearly six years after his death in 2004, the state Senate yesterday voted to establish an annual "Ronald Reagan Day" to honor the two-term President and governor each year on his birthday, February 6. The LA Times reports that the day will not be declared a state holiday...
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April 8, 2010, 12:06 AM
Meg Whitman has put more money into her own gubernatorial campaign than every single person who ran for governor nationwide in 2007 and 2008 put into their own campaigns – combined – according to a study released this week by the National Institute on Money in State Politics. ...
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April 7, 2010, 12:06 AM
As we wrote yesterday, on Thursday the Fair Political Practices Commission will address petitions from several local government groups, which are arguing that commissioners did not have the authority to pass two 2008 regulations that keep them from spending tax money on political campaigns for bond...
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April 5, 2010, 2:25 PM
A coalition of cities, counties and school boards will challenge the authority of the California Fair Political Practices Commission to keep them from spending tax money on political campaigns for bond issues this week, setting the stage for a showdown that could culminate in a lawsuit. ...
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April 2, 2010, 12:05 AM
Ever wonder what kind of dough you need to rub elbows with politicians at a swanky fundraiser? Check out the Sunlight Foundation's Party Time project that's "documenting the political partying circuit." Photo by Kevin BurkettU.S. Capitol Attending a luncheon benefiting Barbara...
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April 1, 2010, 12:03 AM
Remember the time Heidi Fleiss was having a quiet dinner in a Hollywood bistro, and her head caught fire? The guy dining with the former celebrity madam has given $67 million to political candidates and causes, most of them in California, records show. Publicity photoBing produced "...
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March 30, 2010, 12:08 AM
It took us a while, but the intrepid reporters at California Watch were finally able to confirm this week what many politicos have long suspected. Beneath the blaring television ads and bazillion-dollar spending sprees that have thus far defined the California governor's race, there is in fact...
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March 23, 2010, 12:06 AM
Securities and Exchange Commission investigators have raised questions about several campaign donations made to federal financial crisis watchdog Phil Angelides early in his term as California's treasurer. In a report released last week, Securities and Exchange Commission investigators raised...
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