Democrats Brace for Legal Fight in New York 20 with 'Protection Fund'

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http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/eyeon2010/2009/04/democrats-brace-for-legal-figh.html

Democrats Brace for Legal Fight in New York 20 with 'Protection Fund'

By Emily Cadei | April 7, 2009


Democrats seem to be learning a lesson from the long-running legal battles over the 2008 Minnesota Senate race -- the New York state party and Democratic candidate Scott Murphy responded to the whiff of legal conflict in New York's 20th District special election by forming the New York Victory Protection Fund.

The fundraising committee will allow the Murphy campaign and the state party to jointly raise money for expenses incurred in the current ballot canvassing and counting process, as well as any legal fights that arise. Donors to the committee are not subject to aggregate limits, meaning a donor who already gave the maximum allowed to the Murphy campaign under federal limits can donate again to help with legal fees, up to the federal limit.

The Federal Election Commission ruled in March that the same is true for recount funds established by national party committees, in response to a request by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee regarding fundraising for the Minnesota recount. The two candidates in Minnesota -- Democrat Al Franken and Republican Norm Coleman -- have spent millions on legal fees in the unresolved race.

Both Murphy and his Republican opponent, veteran Assemblyman JimTedisco, have already hired lawyers, who got to work Monday by representing their clients in state Supreme Court in Dutchess County for a hearing on the handling of paper ballots.

The court ruled that the district's 10 counties can begin counting what could be as many as 10,000 absentee ballots on Wednesday.

Those ballots will determine the outcome of the election. As of the close of business Monday, Tedisco led Murphy by just 97 votes -- 76,914 to 76,817 -- according to an unofficial tally by the state's board of elections. That margin has fluctuated as the several counties complete their recanvassing of voting machines this week.