State District Judge Joe Hart ruled Thursday that Texans for a Republican Majority violated state campaign law when it failed to disclose more than a half-million dollars in corporate contributions during the 2002 state legislative elections.
Hart, however, said the plaintiffs could only collect for damages in their campaigns. He awarded $196,660 to the five Democratic candidates who lost in 2002. Included in that total was an $87,332 award to former state Rep. Ann Kitchen of Austin.
Five Democratic candidates sued Bill Ceverha, treasurer for Texans for a Republican Majority. Hart's decision is the first judicial determination in the 2 1/2 year controversy about how the political action committee, created by Republican U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, spent corporate money during the 2002 legislative campaign
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