TPM rates Tate (R)-Vogel (R) scandal the "muckiest local muck"

A tight primary race, indictments of voter fraud and a squealing babysitter.

In the 27th State District of Virginia, Mike Tate (R) was indicted Monday on two counts of voter fraud and nine counts of perjury concerning previous campaign finance reports. Meanwhile, with the primary election only 18 days away, Tate's lawyer, Edward MacMahon Jr., is crying foul. "I find it outrageous that charges like this would be brought in the middle of a primary campaign, which has the effect of subverting the democratic process."

MacMahon is pointing fingers at Tate's Republican opponent Jane Holtzman Vogel, a former chief counsel for the RNC with strong ties to the Virginia Conservative Action PAC. After all, reason Tate supporters, the woman who brought the complaint to the attention of the Virginia State Board of Elections is a campaign volunteer for Vogel; the local Leesburg Today even reports that the whistleblower occasionally babysat Vogel's children. And the local prosecutor who initially handled the complaint supported Vogel last year, although the prosecutor recused himself from the investigation in February....

Tate is no stranger to election indiscretions. In the past three years he has paid fines six times for late filings of campaign finance statements, racking up a bill of $900.

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