Former legislator Ross Johnson has been tapped by Governor Schwarzenegger to be the new chairman of the Fair Political Practices Commission, the state's campaign finance watchdog agency.

Johnson represented Orange County in the Legislature for 26 years, and was Republican leader at different points in both the Assembly and Senate. The ex-legislator replaces outgoing FPPC chair Liane Randolph, whose term expired at the end of January.

Johnson was often outspoken on campaign finance issues, and was the plaintiff in the campaign finance lawsuit against then Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante during the 2003 recall campaign. The new chairman was also one of the architects of Proposition 34, the 2000 ballot measure designed by the Legislature to replace campaign contribution limits thrown out by the courts. The original limits were much more strict than those Johnson (and others) wrote into Prop 34.

Also tapped by the governor today for a seat on the FPPC is Tim Hodson, a former legislative staffer and current executive director of the Center for California Studies at CSU Sacramento.