Campaign finance board head named to state bench

Minnesota's campaign finance regulatory board will soon have a new leader after Gov. Mark Dayton appointed the current chairman to a judgeship.

Christian Sande will transition out of the campaign watchdog role, which will create another vacancy on a six-member board already shy two members. The Legislature failed to confirm two appointees during its session. The board needs four members to hold meetings and that many to impose any sanctions for campaign and lobbying law reporting violations.

Campaign board executive director Gary Goldsmith said he anticipates Sande will remain on the board at least through July, which would allow the body to convene a meeting early in the month. Given that it's an election year, the board typically has a steady list of complaints or compliance issues to sort through.

The two other openings could be filled later this summer. Dayton will choose who will fill those slots, and he has indicated he will reappoint Peggy Leppik and Emma Greenman to the positions they were forced to relinquish for lack of legislative consent.

Sande is a lawyer with his own firm. He will serve on the Hennepin County bench. He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic endorsement for Minnesota Secretary of State in 2006.

Dayton also named Lisa Janzen, a public defender in Dakota County, to a second vacancy for the Hennepin County District Court.

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