People & politics.

A Wisconsin corruption scandal over caucus employees campaigning on state time has sent the former Senate majority leader to jail, prompted guilty pleas from three other lawmakers and raised questions about the ethics of gubernatorial campaign managers. Former Senate Majority Leader Chuck Chvala reported to the Dane County Jail in February to begin serving a 9-month sentence in a work-release program that confines him nights and weekends. Chvala, 51, considered one of the most powerful men in Wisconsin, pleaded guilty in October to using state employees and resources on at least one political campaign in 1998 and filing false campaign-finance reports for a fund he controlled that funneled money to the re-election campaign of Senator Mark Meyer in 2000. The judge exceeded the six-month sentence recommended by prosecutors, ordered Chvala to pay $5,500 in fines and spend two years on probation. During that time he is barred from working as a lobbyist. Former Senator Brian Burke pleaded guilty to one felony and one misdemeanor and gave up his license to practice law. Former Assembly Majority Leader Steve Foti and Representative Bonnie Ladwig pleaded guilty to allowing aides to campaign on state time, a misdemeanor. The trial of Representative Scott Jensen, former Assembly speaker, in February and March, linked the campaign managers of the three gubernatorial candidates to allegations of campaigning on state time, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. During the trial, five former Assembly Republican caucus employees testified that they worked on the 1996, 1998 and 2000 campaigns full time in the months before the election. Jensen alleged that Assembly Democrats also engaged in the same campaign activities for which he is accused, but that "selective prosecution" has targeted only him.

Florida politicians think far into the future--they designate their leaders years in advance. So in 2004, Republican Senator Alex Villalobos, was tapped to become the first Cuban American Senate president--in 2008. But a coup in February ousted Villalobos and made Senator Jeff Atwater the president-designate. Political observers say Villalobos was a moderate in an increasingly conservative Senate, who had voted against the governor on several high profile issues, upsetting his GOP colleagues. His rival, and fellow Miami senator, Alex Diaz de la Portilla is credited with engineering the coup. Atwater's selection helps clear the way for Senator JD Alexander in 2010. By supporting Atwater now, Alexander avoided running against him two years later. The man designated to take up the leadership mantle late this year, Senator Ken Pruitt, says he had no part in the coup.

Maryland Senator John A. Giannetti Jr. stopped by his favorite restaurant one night in early March just to pick up some take-home pasta. But he ended up saving the life of a political rival and his likely challenger in the November election. Jim Rosapepe, a member of the Maryland Board of Regents and the man who ran the campaign of the long-time incumbent senator who Giannetti ousted, was choking on seafood pasta. The senator performed the Heimlich procedure and out popped the chunk of food. Will it change the tenor of the campaign? Maybe not. "I don't think this was about politics," Rosapepe said.

Oregon Senator Ben Westlund, called a "maverick" by some, quit the Republican Party in February and announced he will run for governor as an independent. But first he needs to gather 18,368 signatures by August to get on the ballot. Incumbent Governor Ted Kulongoski, a Democrat, is running for re-election, and the GOP has a candidate. Independents have not fared particularly well in Oregon gubernatorial races. The last one elected was Julius Meier--in 1930.

The Tennessee Legislature passed sweeping ethics reform at the end of a nearly month-long special session in response to an FBI sting operation dubbed operation "Tennessee Waltz." The new legislation creates an independent ethics commission, restricts lobbying activities and bans political contributions of more than $50. Former Representative Chris Newton was sentenced in February to one year in prison for taking bribes in the sting operation. "What I did was wrong," Newton said. "I've brought a cloud of doubt over the institution of the state Legislature." Newton pleaded guilty to extortion and bribery conspiracy and resigned his seat last summer. He could have faced up to 25 years in prison. A lobbyist and county commissioner have also pleaded guilty and will be sentenced in August. The probe also brought indictments against Senators Kathryn Bowers and Ward Crutchfield and former Senators Roscoe Dixon and John Ford. All have entered not guilty pleas. Bowers and Crutchfield continue to serve in the Senate.