Garden Grove : Judge Allows Pringle to Resume Fund Raising

Assemblyman Curt Pringle (R-Garden Grove) has won a partial victory in his suit against the state Fair Political Practices Commission, allowing him to resume fund raising for his legal defense fund.

Superior Court Judge Dzintra Janavs on Monday overturned the FPPC’s ruling that said money for Pringle’s defense was subject to provisions of Proposition 68--passed by voters in November--which prohibits raising money in a year when a candidate’s name is not on any ballot.

Pringle’s attorney, Thomas R. Malcolm, said Pringle will now resume his fund-raising effort to pay for his defense against a suit filed by the Hispanic Political Council. The suit alleges that some voters were intimidated by uniformed security guards posted by Pringle’s campaign at 20 Santa Ana polling places when they tried to vote on Nov. 8.

The judge, however, upheld another element of the FPPC’s ruling that restricts the amount Pringle can raise for his defense fund to $1,000 per contributor.

Attorneys for both Pringle and the FPPC said they have not decided whether to appeal.

Pringle was narrowly elected last year and will be on the ballot again next year. He claims to have already spent $170,000 for his legal defense in the federal suit about polling guards.

A trial on the issue of intimidation by the polling guards is scheduled to begin Jan. 16.