Insurance commissioner drops suit over Becerra campaign ads

State Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has quietly dropped his election lawsuit against incumbent Attorney General Xavier Becerra.

Jones had claimed Becerra violated state campaign law by filming multiple commercials in the 1920s-era Sacramento courtroom used by the 3rd District Court of Appeal and occasionally by the California Supreme Court. Jones v. Becerra, BC707549 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed May 24, 2018). Jones also filed a complaint with the Fair Political Practices Commission.

Both men are Democrats. During the June 5 primary, Becerra finished first with 45 percent of the vote and now faces Republican Steven C. Bailey, a retired El Dorado County Superior Court judge, in the November general election. Jones finished fourth.

"We felt from the outset that the claims were baseless," Becerra campaign spokesman Roger Salazar said Thursday. "That's why we were pleased to see the FPPC dismissed the complaint in June and to see that lawsuit now has subsequently been dropped."

The Los Angeles County Superior Court posted a request for dismissal form dated June 25. It was submitted by Jones' lawyer, Nossaman LLP partner Amber Maltbie. Neither she nor the Jones campaign returned a call seeking comment.

If successful, the suit could have forced Becerra to drop the use of the television and print spots. The suit also cited state elections code provisions Jones' attorneys said could have forced the Becerra campaign to pay fines totaling triple the $1.5 million it reportedly spent to make and distribute the ads.

Jones, who terms out of the insurance commissioner job at the beginning of next year, announced his attorney general run in October 2015. He was considered a possible front-runner until Kamala D. Harris left the job two years early after being elected to the U.S. Senate.

Harris' departure set the stage for Gov. Jerry Brown to appoint Becerra, a 12-term congressman, to the role. There had long been rumors of bad blood between Jones and Brown, in part over Jones' handling of litigation as insurance commissioner.

Jones tried to make an issue of the fact he has more experience as a practicing lawyer than Becerra, including time at the federal Department of Justice under Janet Reno. Becerra let his California State Bar license lapse from 1991 to 2017, when Brown nominated him.

At a May press conference announcing the lawsuit, Jones charged that Becerra used the courtroom in order to distract voters from his lack of legal experience.

"I think it's important that voters understand that the impetus for this commercial appears to be to fill the huge gaps in his resume as a lawyer," Jones said.

Becerra still faces a suit from Eric P. Early, a Republican who finished third in the attorney general primary. The managing partner of Early Sullivan Wright Gizer & McRae LLP in Los Angeles claims the long lapse in Becerra's law license violates the California Government Code requiring "a candidate for attorney general be an attorney entitled to practice before the California Supreme Court for five years immediately preceding his or her election."

Sacramento County Superior Court has scheduled a hearing in Early v. Becerra, 80002902 (Sacramento Super. Ct., filed May 29, 2018) on July 13. The suit is considered a long shot. But if it is successful, it could catapult Early into an all-Republican general election following a primary in which the two Democratic candidates combined for 60 percent of the vote.