Free Republic

SACRAMENTO - In public, California's 28th secretary of state is gregarious and warm-hearted -- a champion of open government, nursing-home reformer and leading critic of faulty electronic voting machines. With roots deep in San Francisco politics, Kevin Shelley can rouse crowds in waterfront union halls and Nob Hill ballrooms. It comes naturally. His father was a congressman and San Francisco mayor, making the only son a crown prince of the city's Democratic establishment. But Shelley's reign suddenly has been tainted by a growing crisis, involving possible misuse of federal election money and suspected fundraising abuses. Current and former aides say...

SACRAMENTO - As a candidate for secretary of state, then-Democratic Assemblyman Kevin Shelley led a failed effort to bar elected officials from using state voter outreach money to promote themselves and their political fortunes. After taking over as the state's top elections official, Shelley spent more than $1 million in federal and state funds on a series of television and radio commercials -- prominently featuring himself urging Californians to vote. Shelley defended the advertisements Wednesday as a legitimate attempt to boost lackluster voter turnout, but Republicans questioned the secretary of state's use of public funds to raise his political profile....