The Case Of Rep. David Smith

NickelBack · June 22nd, 2005, 10:26 AM

Arizona's Clean Elections law faces its biggest test to date today when a lawmaker accused of overspending his public campaign funds goes before a judge to fight for his political life.

The Citizens Clean Election Commission voted in March to oust freshman Rep. David Burnell Smith, R-Scottsdale, because its investigation showed he overspent his budget by more than $6,000, or 17 percent, to win a tough primary election. Smith's case could be one of the first in the nation where an elected lawmaker is ousted by a means other than impeachment or recall.

The voter-approved state law says any publicly funded candidate who overspends by more than 10 percent must forfeit the office. The commission also ordered Smith to pay a $10,000 fine and repay $34,625 of public money he used for his 2004 campaign.

Smith's three-day appeal before Administrative Law Judge Dan Martin could be just the beginning of a protracted legal fight, particularly if Martin sides with the commission and agrees that Smith should lose his seat. Smith has vowed to fight his case all the way to the state Supreme Court and beyond because he does not believe the governor-appointed commission has the constitutional authority to overturn an election.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articl...h-trial22.html