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State Sen. Josh Newman, D-Fullerton (Orange County), face s a recall election that could cost Democrats their supermajority.

State Sen. Josh Newman, D-Fullerton (Orange County), face s a...

SACRAMENTO Democratic lawmakers battling to hold on to their legislative supermajority earned a major victory Thursday in a decision that critics said damages the reputation of the states campaign finance watchdog commission.

At issue was a long-standing rule limiting how much campaign cash lawmakers can funnel to a colleague in a recall election. Its not a question that comes up often, but its now front and center for state Senate Democrats with one of their own facing a recall that could cost the party its two-thirds supermajority in the upper house.

The state Fair Political Practices Commission voted 3-1 after a tense debate to eliminate a $4,400 cap for transfers from an elected official to a colleague in a recall campaign. That will let Democratic legislators send unlimited cash to rookie state Sen. Josh Newman, D-Fullerton (Orange County).

Republicans mounted a recall campaign in Newmans swing district after he voted in April to raise gas taxes by 12 cents a gallon and increase vehicle registration fees to fund a $52 billion fix for the states roads and bridges. If the Democrats lose the seat, they would control 26 of the Senates 40 votes one shy of two-thirds.

Senate Democrats had urged the Fair Political Practices Commission to lift the limit on campaign cash transfers. The appointed panel voted to make the change effective immediately, over the objection of Chairwoman Jodi Remke and the agencys lawyers.

I believe this is the wrong time and the wrong venue, Remke said, arguing that critics would see it as a political move by an agency that is supposed to be nonpartisan.

Thats exactly how Republican groups painted it.

In all honesty, we have questions about the efficacy of campaign finance limits, said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. Our problem is the timing. If they are going to make a rule change, the question is, do you want to do it in a way that is so transparent in helping one candidate and one party? This tarnishes the reputation of the FPPC.

Adding to questions about the timing was the disclosure that leading up to the vote one commissioner communicated frequently with the lawyer for the Senate Democrats who lobbied for the change.

Brian Hatch, a longtime union lobbyist appointed to the commission in March by Secretary of State Alex Padilla, met with Democratic attorney Richard Rios and communicated with him by phone, email and text before the vote, according to documents The Chronicle obtained through a state Public Records Act request. The communication was first reported by the Sacramento Bee.

The records show Hatch worked with Rios behind the scenes. Such meetings and communication are not against commission rules, and Hatch said he strongly supported doing away with the $4,400 cap before he ever talked with Rios.

Jessica Levinson, a Loyola Law School professor and chair of the Los Angeles Ethics Commission, said many people will see the vote as a Democratic power grab.

Josh Newman will get a ton of money poured into his effort to fight off the recall, Levinson said. Lawmakers will start writing checks this afternoon and it will benefit him enormously.

But Levinson said the politics behind the decision arent clear cut.

Two of the commissioners who voted for the change are Republicans Maria Audero and Allison Hayward while the third is Hatch, a Democrat. All three were appointed by Democrats.

Remke, the commissions chair who voted against the change, is a Democrat appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown. One seat on the commission is awaiting an appointment from Attorney General Xavier Becerra.

The three commissioners who supported lifting the cap said they did so because the Fair Political Practices Commission interpreted the law incorrectly 15 years ago when advising candidates about how much they could give during the successful recall of Gov. Gray Davis.

In 2008, five years after that election, Republicans advocated for the cap to be lifted when GOP Sen. Jeff Denham faced a recall that ultimately failed.

Each time, the agency concluded that lawmakers are limited to the $4,400 cap when trying to help a colleague fight a recall. Only lawmakers were subject to that cap, while everyone else could give unlimited amounts.

Just because weve done it wrong for 15 years doesnt make it right, said Audero, an attorney who was appointed by Brown to the commission in 2015. If its wrong, its wrong. And all the things that followed are wrong.

Newman was elected to the Senate in November, beating GOP Assemblywoman Ling Ling Chang by 2,498 votes out of 317,962 cast. Democratic lawmakers took another step toward trying to protect him when they passed the states budget in June, inserting a provision that would increase the time it takes to qualify a recall for the ballot.

The change would push a recall vote into next year, when Democrats expect to benefit from a larger turnout. The Howard Jarvis group and others sued to block the move, and a state appeals court put it on hold this week while it studies the measures legality.

Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @MelodyGutierrez

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State Democrats frantic to save one of their own win key ruling on cash - SFGate