Councilman Kevin de Leon is facing a tough re-election campaign due to his role in the racist audio leak scandal two years ago. To help make his case, the veteran Sacramento politician is tapping into his state campaign fund to pay for self-promotion ads advocating three electoral measures.
De León, who came in second in the March primary to tenants’ rights attorney Ysabel Jurado, has the unique ability to bombard 14th Council District voters with his mug because he has $3 million in a campaign account he set up several years ago for a possible run for lieutenant governor.
De León is prohibited from transferring money from his state committee to his city's reelection campaign committee, Times reporters Dakota Smith and David Zahniser said. explainedBut he could have put that money toward other committees focused on political causes, which he did.
The current councilman is pursuing a strategy that is already familiar. Many politicians, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, have used spending on ballot measure campaigns to improve their image.
So far, he has transferred $600,000 to Kevin de León's Believing in a Better California Ballot Initiative Committee, which will promote Proposition 3 to affirm marriage equality, Proposition 32 to establish an $18 minimum wage and Proposition 33 to expand rent control.
The ballot measure committee has already paid for a glossy “Yes on Prop 32” campaign sign emblazoned with his photo proclaiming that “then-Senate President Kevin de León wrote the bill to raise California’s minimum wage. Now he’s fighting to raise it again.”
Because it is a state ballot measure committee, rather than a city committee, De Leon has fewer restrictions on how he uses the money and does not have to report his spending to the city Ethics Commission. Politico reportedAs long as the ballot proposition ads do not expressly tell people to vote for him, this is allowed under California law.
But just because it's legal doesn't mean it's right.
This kind of game of conning people to get campaign funds makes the public angry with career politicians. As we have said, there is nothing wrong with people making a career in public service, and Work experience It's usually an asset. Of course, elected officials regularly use their surplus campaign money to help others get elected and support ballot measures they believe in, but using it to pay for a thinly veiled campaign ad is distasteful and contrary to the intent, if not the letter, of the law.
While in Sacramento, De Leon was able to use his position as Senate president pro tempore to raise large amounts of money from interest groups. When his term ended, He raised the surplus money from the campaign into a lieutenant governor's campaign account as a reserve. And now he can use that money as a covert way to boost his re-election campaign in the city, in addition to the city-regulated account. fundraising and campaigns He is doing.
California Common Cause, which promotes transparency in political spending, would like to see more restrictions on how candidate-controlled campaign committees spend their money, such as ensuring that a larger percentage of advertising promotes the issue rather than the candidate. Or the state could require candidates to get donors' permission before transferring money to a campaign committee.
These are valuable ideas that state lawmakers and the Fair Political Practices Commission should explore. Candidates will seek any advantage in a competitive race; the state has a responsibility to make the playing field as level as possible.
