coleman-tiny-headNorm Coleman has wondered whether he could spend campaign cash on lawyers to fight charges that a donor secretly funneled him $75,000. No answer on that yet (he never officially asked), but today the Federal Election Commission told another member of Congress his campaign can pay for a home security system.

Candidates and elected officials aren’t supposed to use campaign funds for personal expenses. But the FEC ruled today that Rep. Elton Gellegly, a California Republican, may draw on his campaign account to pay for a home security system, estimated to cost between $6,000 and $7,500.

A persistent stalker at Gallegly’s Washington, D.C., residence helped Gallegly’s cause by reportedly leaving a letter there on Oct. 27, 2008, that had political overtones. Addressed “To Elton and republican party” it demanded that the letter-writer be allowed to stay at the Galleglys “or anywhere filled with republicans for a guaranteed win at office.”

The FEC’s opinion (pdf) states:

The content and timing of the letter strongly suggest that it was the Congressman’s public role as a candidate in the November 4, 2008 election, and/or his activities as a Member of Congress, that resulted in this action by the individual. … The Commission has long recognized that if a candidate “can reasonably show that the expenses at issue resulted from campaign or officeholder activities, the Commission will not consider the use to be personal use.

The FEC’s advisory opinions set precedent, so Coleman could cite this new ruling should he ever file an official request. He has asserted that the filing of the civil lawsuit that contains the money-funneling charge was timed to cause him headaches just days before the general election.

A more direct parallel, however, might be Coleman’s costs associated with graffiti vandalism at his St. Paul residence (as well as at the homes of several other Minnesota members of Congress) or the egg-thrower who pestered him more recently.

“I [expletive] can’t stand what you represent,” the egg-thrower was reported to have said in the April 15 incident, which came just two days after Minnesota’s election-contest trial court ruled that Al Franken beat Coleman by 312 votes in Minnesota’s U.S. Senate election last year.