[courtesy of Blog for America]

We don't need to wait to have campaign finance reform -- our Northside DFA adopted candidate Daniel Biss, running for State Rep in the 17th District, is doing it right now.

He has raised over $220,000 from over 1,300 individual donors -- unheard of for a State Rep race.  This is the people powered campaign we have been waiting for!

In contrast, here is a small sample of where Dan's opponent, Republican Beth Coulson, gets her money from:

Americash Loans LLC - $250.00
Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc. - $500.00
Astellas Pharma - $250.00
Baxter Healthcare Corporation - $250.00
Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals - $500.00
Caremark RX Inc $500.00
Daiichi Sankyo Inc $500.00
Diageo North America Inc $250.00
GlaxoSmithKline  $500.00
Hawthorne Race Course $250.00
Humana Inc. $1,250.00
Pfizer Inc $500.00
Pharmaceutical Research & Mfrs. of America $500.00
Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America Inc $250.00
Walgreen Drugstores Corporation $450.00
Zeneca Inc. $250.00

And this list is just from her last fundraising report! We need someone in this seat who is beholden to the people, NOT to Big Pharma.

by Lucas O'Connor [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Campaign finance reform has been bubbling as an issue for a number of years.  And any time someone manages even a small step forward, you know you're going to have the big money corporations, the Club for Growth, and all other manner of rich righties lining up to defend their right to freely spend their money on as much questionable propaganda as they can muster.  Normally the battle lines are pretty clear on this, ideologically speaking.  That is, of course, unless you subscribe to Sen. Carole Migden's particular brand of "progressivism".

After the Fair Political Practices Commission barred her from accessing more than $640,000 from an old campaign account because, well...she didn't transfer it out of her Assembly campaign account before she left the Assembly (whoops), she sued to get it back.  Free political speech, her argument goes, trumps playing by the rules.

And today, a District Court judge agreed.  U.S. District Court Judge Edmund Brennan granted a temporary injunction against the FPPC's locking of the account:

by Be_Devine [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

As previously reported, Carole Migden was recently hit with the largest fine in the history of California's Fair Political Practices Commission ("FPPC").  She was found guilty of 89 separate violations of California law and fined $350,000.

The record FPPC fine, however, is only the tip of the iceberg for Senator Migden.  She still has several unresolved violations of California law, which the FPPC chairman calls "serious and deceitful."  Rather than letting the FPPC proceeding run its course, Senator Migden chose instead to join forces with radical right wing Republicans by filing a lawsuit in Federal Court to declare California's campaign finance laws unconstitutional.  Senator Migden is happy to undo years of valuable campaign finance reform just for a shot at saving herself from her clear violations of the law.

This is the long and sordid tale of Senator Migden's numerous violations of California law.  It is a tale not only about her recent lawsuit (Migden v. The Fair Political Practices Commission), but also a tale about Carole Migden's serious and deceitful assault on the notion of fair political practices in general (Carole Migden versus fair political practices).  It will take a while to unravel the mess that Carole Migden has created.  So grab a beverage, get a comfy chair, and hold on for the ride . . . 

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Randy Shaw

In 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.

After recent polls showed Carole Migden fighting for her political life, the State Senator has acknowledged this by claiming in a lawsuit that her ability to use funds barred by Prop 34 “could well make the difference in the June primary election.”

by Ilya Sheyman [courtesy of Blog for America]

DFA-List Candidate Donna Edwards has her primary election on Tuesday, and there's been a lot of news over the past few days.

Today, the Washington Post endorsed Donna over Bush-Democrat incumbent Al Wynn. 

For her part, though, Ms. Edwards, a lawyer and foundation executive, has been an effective, energetic advocate for a range of liberal causes -- the environment, higher minimum wages, stemming domestic violence, campaign finance reform. As a community organizer, she has been an unstinting voice for improving mass-transit options, although sometimes at the expense of building roads that the 4th District badly needs. Even in cases where she clashed with local developers, however, she won their respect as a sensible and no-nonsense adversary. Poised, persistent and principled, she would make a fine representative for the 4th District.

And how are the polls looking? Matt Stoller at OpenLeft got his hands on an internal poll from the Edwards campaign. The results?

Donna Edwards - 40%

Al Wynn - 32% 

But, polls don't mean much - it's all about what happens on tuesday in Maryland. Oh, and yes, there will be a Presidential Primary on the ballot as well. Donna made some news on that front:

by David Reiter [courtesy of Blog for America]

Last week, we pledged to provide some direct information about who the leading Democratic Presidential candidates receive the bulk of their campaign funds from. The information was originally supposed to summarize and highlight what organizations and people were supporting the candidates so we can get an idea of where their loyalties may lay, once elected.  After doing some extensive research, it was decided that there is not a truly fair and accurate way to provide the exact information in a brief format; there is simply too much information to sift through, and the more you dig, the more convoluted it gets.  This problem is endemic of our current campaign financing laws, and don’t believe it will radically change any time soon. 

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Berkeley Assemblywoman Loni Hancock will endorse Sen. Hillary Clinton for President this week, joining other East Bay legislators supporting the New York Senator.

Hancock, the former Mayor of Berkeley, is well respected in the legislature for her work on campaign finance reform, health care, and other progressive issues.

She joins other East Bay Assemblymembers Sandre Swanson and Mary Hayashi, as well as State Senators Tom Torlakson and State Senate President pro Tem Don Perata in backing Clinton.