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...