Everyone has been going on and on about the SD-03 race here, and I’m about as far removed from a vested interest as one could be while still living in California, but it’s been good for horserace fun- it’s definitely the hot race in the halls here, with mountains of lit from all three sides.  It actually reminds me of all the presidential buzz last year, and seems to be overshadowing the Clinton/Obama business so far (at least among the unscientific sample of folks I’m talking to). Joe Nation and Mark Leno have been working the crowds in their way, and Migden, well…she’s being herself as well, which from what I hear is at least pretty entertaining.  On the flip is the banner she’s been running around the CC with, which turned a few heads for using the official seal of the State Senate while campaigning.  That’s a little sketchy, but then what isn’t these days?

[Update by Julia] Sweet Melissa brings us the scene from the Women’s Caucus and it is jaw dropping.

We walked in and who was at the podium in front of hundreds of people? Carole Migden! And Mark Leno was standing in the back of the room! I looked around and saw lots of women holding Leno signs and gay men holding Migden signs. And the supporters were heckling each other! Hilarious!

I later learned that this was a meeting of the California Democratic Party Women’s Caucus. Migden launched into her speech, which fell pretty flat until she got to the part about how “women should vote for women” and pointed to a group of women in the corner of the room (some of whom were, um…not-petite) who were holding Leno signs and said:

   “I mean, are those women or heavy guys?”

I shit you not.

Allow me to repeat that:

   “I mean, are those women or heavy guys?”

The room was silent for a second while we all thought the same thing: “Did she just effing say that?” Then the place erupted with boos and curses that did not stop.

Sweet Melissa sums it all up by saying:

To recap: I wasn’t here two hours and I saw Migden get booed off the stage at the Women’s Caucus. This is going to be good.

Today at 4:30 there will be a potential endorsement vote for Midgen.  The rules are different for incumbents then those running for an open seat.  She only needs 50%+1 rather than 60%.

[Update by Lucas] Word is that Migden was hammering the same “women need to stick together” line at the Progressive Caucus last night.  Always good when we can have an honest debate about the issues…

I figured that Mark Leno (D-SF) would be in the lead, but I never though that the disparity would be this great.  Carole Midgen (D-SF) has raised a decent amount of money, but a bunch of it is for the general election, which really does her no good.  When you take away the general election funds and her debts, she is left with only $13k.  Do the same thing for Leno and he has $234k.

Leno is reporting raising almost $444,000, while Migden brought in $304,00.  Only 4.4% of Leno’s funds are for the general election, but $163,750 of Midgen’s totals cannot be used in the primary.  She has debts of $180,186.  Do all the math and that leaves her with only $13,014.  It is a shockingly low number.  I will fully admit that these numbers are from the Leno folks.  If they are wrong please let me know.

Naturally the Leno campaign is bragging.  Here is their press release:

Leno spokesperson Charles Sheehan says “Migden’s campaign finances are in complete disarray, a fact that even her chief campaign consultant, Richie Ross, has openly admitted.” Moreover, says Sheehan, while she “has refused to disavow using these illegal surplus campaign funds to pad her depleted accounts, we are confident that a current FPPC investigation into her numerous violations will block her from using that money.”

UPDATE It was pointed out to me in the comments that this is a discussion about money raised in 2007.  Migden has a large amount in her account that she has raised previously.  Leno’s camp contends that a large portion of that should not have been transfered.  That will be up to the FPPC to decide.  Should that not be blocked then she will have the advantage.

Carole Midgen already has paid the most fines of any sitting Senator to the FPPC (the state version of the FEC).  It looks like she will be significantly adding to that $100k fines total.  The FPPC is looking into what could end up being several hundred thousand dollars in fines and bar her from over a million in contributions she has that she has allegedly transferred illegally from other campaign accounts.  Her consultant Ritchie Ross has already confirmed that the complaints are “absolutely legitimate”.

There are two pieces to this puzzle

1. Much like Joe Lieberman did a year ago, Midgen has $381k in unitemized expenditures.  By law, campaigns have to report what exactly they are spending their money on.  It is a basic piece of disclosure, so the public can be assured that it is not buying votes or engaging in other dirty campaign tactics.  Midgen has been charging a lot of things on to her campaign credit card and failing to disclose each of those individual payments.  The $381k adds up to 25% off all the money she spent.  This is not an isolated incident and this type of disclosure is a routine activity of campaigns.  There is no legitimate excuse for her not to itemize and the public deserve the right to know what these candidates are doing.  Under state law she could face fines up to $5,000 for every single individual expenditure over $100 and she could be sued up for up to three times the amount of the value of the undisclosed expenditures.  Right now we do not know how many different things they charged on the credit card, but it could easily add up to the tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.  And of course three times $381k is $1.143 million.  It is rare that the FPPC issues the maximum fine, but they could still be significant totals in the end.
2. According to a complaint by the Leno campaign, Midgen has transfered over $1.3 million from her State Assembly Campaign Committee and Board of Equalization Campaign Committee accounts into her State Senate Election Committee account.  The Board of Equalization account should have been closed years ago, since it has been a long while since she has held that office.  Obviously if the FPPC blocks her access to that significant amount of money, it will make her re-election run all that more difficult, not to mention any fines she would receive on top of that.

Midgen’s books are notorious for being a mess.  It appears that it is her consultant’s tactic to do a poor job of reporting, then go back and pay the fines by fundraising more after the election.  That will not be able to work this time, since action is being taken now before her next campaign.  The FPPC responded to the Leno complaint in record time.  blog.sfweekly.com:

Jeffris’ employer, John Whitehurst (of the highly connected City consulting firm Barnes, Mosher Whitehurst Lauter & Partners), has said he’d never before seen a letter from the FPPC acknowledging an investigation was under way in more than 20 years in the state’s political trenches.

All of which begs the question: Did someone light a fire under the FPPC’s bottom?

Not exactly, according to Roman Porter, the FPPC’s Sacramento-based communications director. Since the Leno campaign’s filing was a “formal complaint” – complete with oaths sworn under penalty of perjury – Porter notes that the FPPC was under a statutory obligation to respond within 14 days.

But this wasn’t 14 days. It wasn’t even two.

“Well,” deadpanned Porter, “I guess we beat the statutory limitations.”

The response from the FPPC indicated that the complaint was already under investigation.  They will take their time digging through the Migden records before their staff comes up with a recommendation for a fine.  Then the Commission will vote on accepting that recommendation or not.  Only then would the lawsuit over the unitemized contributions be allowed to proceed. 

This is getting a decent amount of press in the district (see this Marin IJ article) and is hampering Midgen’s ability to talk about other issues, especially in the wake of her car accidents.  If the FPPC comes back with a strong ruling, then it has the potential to be a game changer in this election campaign.  The fines likely will not add up to anything really really major (relatively speaking), given the historical precedence in previous FPPC rulings, but the money transfers are a huge deal.  It just isn’t that easy to make up for a million dollars that you already have in your accounts.

(Here’s the video from FOX2. – promoted by Brian Leubitz)

This is one diary I don’t particularly want to write, but figure that I should continue updating on a story I covered last week.  Sen. Migden’s legal troubles over her car accident are not going away.  They are getting worse.  This is sounding really ugly.

The CHP has instigated a broader investigation of Migden’s driving behavior on that day.  This was prompted by the fact that several motorists had called the 911 about an “erratic and dangerous driver” on the same stretch of the road just before Migden rear-ended the car.

There are questions over her story.  CHP issued a statement on Friday saying she told officers she was lost and “missed her exit to an appointment in Marin County.”  But her press release said she “took her eyes off the road” reaching for her ringing cell phone.  Plus, she said in her statement that she passed a breathalyser.  The CHP said it was a preliminary alcohol screen.  Correct me if I am wrong, but that is usually a walk in a line, touch your nose test, not easily confused with blowing into a straw.

Then there is this reported ugliness.  One witness said that following the accident she screamed at the driver of the car she hit that she was a senator.

“‘I’m a senator!’ I said ‘Fine, let’s just see if this is ok.’ She didn’t seem all there,” says witness Adrian Romo.

She is known to have a temper, so that does not exactly surprise me.  The rest of the KTVU report has witnesses saying she glanced off two different center media divides, while talking on her cell phone, reading and swerving through traffic.  Go read it for the depressing details.

I guess this story should be in the news for a while.  Sigh.

I had this in the quick hits, but new info prompts me to make it an actual post.  Here is what we know thus far.

Sen. Migden was driving in Fairfield, on her way to Marin when..

when she became disoriented and didn’t realize cars ahead of her had stopped at a signal. Williford said Migden’s vehicle hit the stopped cars.

Migden was unhurt, but the person she hit complained of pain and was taken to the hospital.  Then there is this…

Migden, a Democrat from San Francisco, was taken to the CHP office in Fairfield. She was later seen driving away from the office in her damaged vehicle.

Unusual for the CHP to take her in to their office.  I wonder what if any charges she will be facing, or if she will just get a big huge ticket.

[UPDATE] Here is an off the wall theory.  Maybe the CHP officer on the scene was the one she called a bad name last year.

All joking aside.  I hope everyone is ok and not seriously hurt.

[UPDATE II]Ok mystery solved.  She grabbed her cell phone when it rang, took her eyes off the road and hit the cars.  CHP took her in for a breathalyser, which she passed.