Voters in California’s 44th Congressional District got a sneak peak of the type of politician they elected when a Democratic lawmaker was served with a subpoena at his election party in San Pedro Tuesday.
“Sir, I’m serving you, sir,” a process server told state Sen. Isadore Hall, a Compton Democrat, as he celebrated his primary victory in a 10-way race to replace Rep. Janice Hahn, CBS Los Angeles reports.
WATCH: Congressional Candidate Isadore Hall Get Served With Legal Papers At Own Election Partyhttps://t.co/DqhoIHHWsM
— Jeff Nguyen (@jeffnguyen) June 8, 2016
Hall and fellow Democrat Nanette Barragan move on to the general election under California’s “top two” primary system, according to the Daily Breeze.
A CBS reporter attempted to speak with Hall, who has been a state Senator for less than two years and ran to be a delegate for Hillary Clinton, but the lawmaker’s staff repeatedly gave the reporter the run-around.
“We’re going to go in and talk to the community and then we’ll take reports about the election thereafter,” Hall said when asked about the lawsuit. “Just give me a second.”
Later in the party, Hall and his staff again brushed off questions about his legal troubles.
“He’s more than happy to speak with you but you have to give us a little bit of time,” a staffer told CBS Los Angeles. “Is that OK?”
Court records show Hall helped to develop a condominium complex as a Compton councilmember that he now lives in, and nine families in the complex are suing over a rent-to-buy agreement associated with the deals. The property owner also alleged in August that Hall was $4,800 behind on rent and $5,000 behind on utilities,” according to the news site.
“He can pay his rent,” said Inna Dumas-Smith, Hall’s neighbor. “He probably don’t want to pay his rent, he’s probably getting passes, but it’s not fair.”
Dumas-Smith and another neighbor, Manuia Logoai, both said they voted for someone else.
“On no! No,” Lagoai said. “I overlooked his name, because when I see that name, I see the wrongness.”
According to the Daily Breeze:
Hall, a 44-year-old career politician, won his first elective office on the Compton school board in 2001. He was elected to the Compton City Council two years later. In 2008, he won a seat in the Assembly’s 64th District that he held until taking the 35th Senate District in a special election when former Sen. Rod Wright was convicted of perjury and voting fraud for lying about … where he lived.
Ballotpedia shows hall won the June 7 primary with about 43 percent of the vote. Barragan took about 21 percent and the remaining 36 percent was split up between the remaining eight candidates.
But the condo debacle isn’t the only problem dogging Hall’s campaign.
Barragan, an attorney and former Hermosa Beach City Council member, accused Hall last week of spending funds earmarked for the general election during the primary, which is a violation of campaign finance laws.
The Los Angeles Times reports:
Hall’s campaign reported having $39,182 in cash on hand at the end of the last reporting period in mid May, according to Federal Election Commission records. That means the campaign spent almost all of the $978,983 that it raised from individuals and political committees for both the primary and the general election.
The problem: Of the nearly $1 million raised, about $126,000 was earmarked specifically for the general election, according to FEC records compiled by the nonpartisan California Target Book, which tracks races around the state.
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