Word: campaigns
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When Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown started his campaign to fill Edward Kennedy's U.S. Senate seat with few backers and comparatively little money, few people expected him to win - or even come close. But thanks to his promise to use his crucial vote to block the Democrats' congressional health care reform bill, he has gained the support of conservative special-interest groups and beat Democratic opponent Martha Coakley in the Jan. 19 special election. This is big news in Massachusetts - and Washington. A Brown victory - for the seat of liberal lion and health care reform champion Ted Kennedy, no less...
...Tuesday a state court will begin picking a jury in the trial of former House Majority Whip Mike Veon, a Democrat from western Pennsylvania, and three former party staffers, who are accused of running a secret campaign office in the Capitol building. The defendants are among 25 people from both parties indicted by state Attorney General Tom Corbett, who started the investigation three years ago, initially focusing on taxpayer money used to give bonuses to Democratic staffers working on campaign projects on official time. (See the top 10 scandals...
Although the parties ran their schemes separately, according to the indictments, "the goal was the same: power and using public resources for campaign purposes," Corbett's spokesman Kevin Harley said. So far, the probe has indicted some big names in addition to Veon, including two former House Speakers, Democrat Bill DeWeese and Republican John Perzel, and the former chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Brett Feese, a Republican from Williamsport. The scandal forced the resignation of state Revenue Secretary Stephen Stetler, who was indicted in December for his role in the scheme while a legislator and head of the House...
...that his client is innocent. "The conduct itself is not illegal ... What they did is done every day in every statehouse in the United States." Sansone has said that Veon's defense team will introduce evidence that the attorney general himself and his staff often blur the lines between campaign work and official duties...
Despite all the publicity the indictments have generated for Corbett, the anti-corruption campaign got off to an inauspicious start. The first trial, in December, resulted in the acquittal of former Democratic lawmaker Sean Ramaley, who had been charged with having a do-nothing political job with Veon while Ramaley was running for office. Prosecutors say that they have a far stronger case against Veon and the other legislative leaders. Seven legislative aides pleaded guilty to related charges earlier this month and are expected to testify against Veon and others. (See the 25 crimes of the century...