Whoops. Arnold's campaign people are having a little funny money problem. As Christian Berthelsen in the San Francisco Chronicle chronicles they've had to return a lot of money. Christian writes:
Sacramento -- A ballot measure committee supporting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's initiative to redraw California's political boundaries has returned $1.75 million in donations, after opponents accused the governor of violating the same election laws he charged them with breaking just a week earlier.
In addition, a lawyer for the Democratic Party is set to file a lawsuit today in the hopes of forcing the committee supporting Proposition 77 to disgorge an additional $1.1 million.
The setback for Prop. 77 advocates came as Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, said she would start raising money to defeat the measure. The House minority leader said she planned to ask all 33 Democratic members of California's delegation to pitch in and had the green light from federal elections regulators to raise unlimited funds.
You will recall that Prop. 76 was supported by some 19% of registered voters in a recent poll. Ouch.
Of course it's all about turn-out; we have to remind Californians why they have to vote on this one.
Bob Salladay and Dan Morain in the LA Times note that we have entered a new stretch: traditional campaigning. Schwarzenegger can now go out in public without the huge crowds following him. Game on. It's all about this election. They write:
With less than five weeks left before the Nov. 8 special election, both sides set their sights on voters who plan to cast early ballots. Early voting begins in some cities in the next few weeks.
The Republican Party has a big absentee ballot campaign in the works. Strategists for the opposition to Schwarzenegger said they would focus on making sure that their own supporters who wanted absentee ballots got them, as well as on walking precincts and manning phone banks to encourage people to vote.
"We've always run a very aggressive volunteer campaign … and we'll continue that until election day," said Gale Kaufman, lead consultant for an umbrella group of public employee unions called the Alliance for a Better California.
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