Southeast : Campaign Fund Transfers Improper, Challenger Says

Republican state Senate candidate Ron Isles has charged that two of his opponents--Assemblymen Gil Ferguson and Frank Hill--have improperly transferred money from their Assembly campaign accounts to accounts that they can use in waging the Senate race.

But both Hill (R-Whittier) and Ferguson (R-Newport Beach) said Tuesday that they cleared the transfers with state election authorities before the transactions were made. Hill said he received written approval for his transfer of more than $20,000 into his Senate campaign account. And Ferguson also said he first talked with state attorneys for the Fair Political Practices Commission before transferring $1,000 to his Senate campaign.

Isles, a Brea city councilman, charged that the transfers violate Proposition 73, the 1989 measure that reformed campaign financing.

Hill, Ferguson and Isles are the major Republican candidates in a special election to replace state Sen. William Campbell (R-Hacienda Heights), who resigned last month. The overwhelmingly Republican district straddles the boundary between Los Angeles and Orange counties and stretches from West Covina to Laguna Beach. The primary is scheduled for Feb. 6 and the general election, if necessary, will be held April 10.