Legal News

Lawsuits may imperil Riverside County Senate candidates

By Richard Binder

Former Assemblyman Russ Bogh and Assemblyman Bill Emmerson are both running for Riverside County's 37th District Senate seat on the Republican ticket.  And both have pending lawsuits that might affect their candidacies.

Bogh's family business, Bogh Construction Inc., filed a suit earlier this month against former Assemblyman John Benoit, his campaign consultant, a campaign committee called the Inland Empire Taxpayers Association and the association's president, Chris Mann. The suit says the taxpayers group committed libel when it sent a mailer alleging that Bogh used his political connections to steer school construction contracts to the family business. A hearing is set for later this month.

In Sacramento, a Feb. 19 lawsuit claims that Assemblyman Tom Berryhill, a candidate for the Central Valley's 14th Senate District, is ineligible because he only recently moved into the district. And Bill Emmerson, a longtime Redlands resident, re-registered to vote in Hemet in Nov. 5 to run in the April 13 special election for the 37th. If a judge sides against Berryhill, then Emmerson's candidacy may be in danger.

Full story here.

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on March 01, 2010 (boomark / email).