Candidate Says Irvine Campaign Ordinance Is Unfair to Couples
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Irvine City Council candidate Tom Jones is expected to file a lawsuit in Santa Ana Superior Court today challenging the constitutionality of an Irvine campaign ordinance that he says discriminates against married couples.
According to the campaign contribution reform law, passed by Irvine voters in 1981, a “corporation, association, partnership, political action group, club, committee, and husband and wife combination” can contribute up to $283.47 to a candidate.
Under the law, a single person can contribute up to $283.47 to a candidate, “but a married couple is legally defined as a person and not two individuals, as I believe they are and ought to be regarded,” Jones said in a prepared statement.
“The law is wrong,” he said, adding that it “belongs in the 18th Century, if it belongs anywhere.”
Jones, Irvine Chamber of Commerce president and an attorney, is one of 10 candidates vying for two seats on the Irvine City Council.
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