I will be introducing legislation to stop Adam Schiff and other candidates for California's Senate seat from evading campaign contribution limits. As things stand, they are planning to solicit double the allowable amount from donors. This is an indirect consequence of Gavin Newsom's unwillingness to let voters choose either of their U.S. Senators.
Here's the backstory: After Kamala Harris became Vice President, Newsom appointed Alex Padilla to her Senate seat, with the intention for Padilla to serve out Kamala's term and then run for a new six-year term in 2022. I challenged the legality of this appointment, and California's Legislative Counsel's Office agreed with me; its 10-page opinion, issued in December of 2020, found that Padilla could not legally serve the entire remainder of Kamala's term, because Senate appointments must be "temporary" under the 17th Amendment. A Special Election was required where voters would choose a Senator to complete Kamala's term, which was to expire in January of 2023.
Newsom and the Legislature were in a bind: they had to call a Special Election but didn't want to give anyone but Padilla a chance at winning. So rather than call an immediate standalone election, they passed a law setting it for a year and a half later: putting a Special Election on the same ballot as the 2022 election for a new six-year term. Thus the same U.S. Senate seat appeared twice on last year's ballot: once for who would serve the "lame duck" period (roughly two months) between the election and the end of Kamala's term, and again for who would serve a new six-year term beginning the following January.
This allowed Padilla to essentially serve out the term as an appointed Senator, while still technically meeting the constitutional requirement of having an elected Senator finish the term. By November of 2022, Padilla had almost two years of incumbency and easily won both elections. He was then sworn in twice: once in November as the winner of the Special Election to serve the final two months of Kamala's term, and again in January as the winner of the regular election for a new term.
With the passing of Senator Feinstein, the same scenario has arisen. And the same law dictates that Newsom's appointed Senator Laphonza Butler will serve until next November, when Californians will vote twice for the Senate seat: once for who serves the last two months of Feinstein's term, and once for who serves the new six-year term. It is likely that, just as in Padilla's case, the same candidates will run for both and the same person will win both.
But because these are technically considered two elections, candidates can open separate campaign accounts and solicit donations up to the maximum for both. I am introducing legislation to stop this from happening. The bill will provide that for a candidate running for the same office multiple times on the same ballot, contributions are aggregated across the campaign accounts and subject to a single limit.
https://x.com/kevinkileyca/status/1711833615745572937?s=61